Surviving Among the Entities

I first searched for Sarang Industries on a job recruitment site. Fortunately, I was able to find their job posting for new employees.

[Sarang Industries New Employee Recruitment]
[Number of Openings: 00]
[Field: General Office Work]
[Related Majors: Not specified]
[Experience: Not specified]
[Education: Not specified]
[Age: Not specified]
[Salary: To be decided after discussion]
[Application Deadline: None]
[Announcement of Successful Candidates: Individual notification via text message]
[Documents to Submit: 1 job application form, 1 self-introduction letter]
[We are a company with a family-like atmosphere. Please apply in large numbers.]

I immediately submitted my application. Since I had prepared it in the past, there was no need to write a new one.

‘It’s fortunate that they don’t consider experience and education level.’

My previous job-seeking attempts had failed because those two factors were stumbling blocks.

‘This time, if that were the case, I was going to ask Sarang to forge my education credentials, but it looks like I don’t need to. Shall I take a look at some company reviews?’

I accessed a corporate information site to check reviews about Sarang Industries.

[A company like family. The best company you’ll never find again. 《5 stars》]
[A top-notch company that pays well and values work-life balance. 《5 stars》]
[An unparalleled company in the world, I doubted if this was heaven itself. 《5 stars》]
[Working here, I gained new experiences and even obtained 6 certifications. A company for my own self! 《5 stars》]

There were 127 reviews in total, all with a perfect 5-star rating. Not a single negative review could be found.

‘It seems many applied, but will I receive a call?’

The very next day, I received a text message.

[This is a notification that you have passed the document screening. Congratulations.]
[The second round will be an interview.]
[Date & Time: December 14th, 11 AM]
[Location: In front of the fountain at … Park in Bucheon City.]
[Since we’re a family-like company, please come in comfortable attire ^^]

The 14th is tomorrow.

‘They said to come in comfortable attire, but first impressions are important.’

The next day, wearing a suit I had prepared for previous interviews, I nervously went to the location specified in the text message.

“Ah, are you Mr. Seung-hoon Lee?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Please come this way.”

Two middle-aged men were waiting for me in front of the fountain.

“Oh, you look much more handsome in person than in your photo.”
“Let’s head to the interview location first.”

The older-looking man of the two asked:

“Do you like Korean food by any chance?”
“Yes, I do.”
“That’s great.”

His bright smile left quite a good impression.

“We’ll conduct the interview there.”

I have no social experience. Regrettably, I’ve never even worked a simple part-time job.

‘Well, I did have some experience as a spirit companion, so it’s not like I have none at all.’

So I don’t know anything about company-related matters, like what specific tasks new employees perform, what daily life is like interacting with other employees, or what kind of conversations one has with superiors.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“I was just thinking for a bit.”

At most, I only know the conceptual aspects of companies. But even so, I could tell this interview was quite unusual.

“Isn’t it strange to have an interview at a Korean food buffet?”
“I can’t say for sure since I lack experience, but it certainly is unconventional.”
“Why do we need to conduct stiff interviews at the office? It’s better to eat our fill while we’re at it.”
“Our company is like a family. The dinner table is originally a place for families to converse, isn’t it? So eat up. We’ll pay for it.”
“Understood.”

While we were eating, the older man spoke up.

“You can call me Section Chief Kim, and this friend here is Deputy Lee.”
“Yes, Section Chief Kim, Deputy Lee.”
“So you want to join our company? Based on your resume, you have no experience and only a middle school education. Wow! You’ve got a lot of spirit!”
“Although I only have a middle school education, I believe academic credentials hold little meaning in modern society. Through the internet and self-study, I’ve received much guidance and acquired sufficient knowledge, with a general level of judgment and intelligence. If you teach me, I’m confident I can fully contribute as an employee at your company.”
“Wow, you speak so eloquently!”

The two men applauded in admiration. Then Deputy Lee asked:

“Do you really want to join our company?”
“Yes, I absolutely do.”
“Section Chief Kim, this friend has a lot of passion. Shall we pass him?”
“Okay, pass! Then let’s negotiate the salary?”

I was dumbfounded by the document Section Chief Kim took out.

“The starting salary is 2,500, but for the first year as a probationary period, you’ll only receive 60% of that. Ah, since I’m older, is it okay if I speak informally?”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
“Thanks! So 60% of 2,500 is 1,250, that will be your first year’s salary.”
“Isn’t 60% of 2,500 actually 1,500?”
“Oh my! I guess Ms. Kim made a mistake when preparing the document! Okay, let me erase this part… There, corrected to 1,500. The starting salary is a bit low, but our company has merit-based raises.”
“What kind of merit system?”
“If you last one year, you’ll be automatically promoted to deputy manager the following year. From then on, the probationary period ends and you’ll receive the full 2,500 salary and be formally recognized as a regular employee. As for the job you’ll be doing at the company…..”

At this point, I realized this interview was not normal.

“You’ll need to know Excel and Word. By any chance, can you also do accounting? Our team doesn’t have an accountant, so it would be great if we had someone who could handle accounting professionally.”
“Apart from accounting, you’ll need to be versatile. You’ll need to help manage the factory equipment, so electrical skills are necessary. You’ll also need to know how to repair machinery, and since we have Chinese migrant workers, you should know some Chinese as well……”

After 3 months of employment, unfair dismissal becomes impossible due to labor laws, so the probationary period is set at 3 months. Additionally, even during the probationary period, the salary must be at least minimum wage, and violating this is illegal.

“Anyway, you’ll need to do accounting, document preparation, electrical work, occasionally manage the website, there are quite a lot of tasks.”
“It will be busy, but that’s why there’s a probationary period to learn everything. You’re still young, right? When you’re young, you learn quickly.”
“Right, the saying goes ‘youth is meant for hardship’, so if you work hard as a new employee, it will become your flesh and blood, and you’ll reap the rewards later.”

The scope of work was extremely broad with no fixed job title.

‘The interview isn’t strange. The company is strange.’

During my previous inspection, my desire to experience corporate life had clouded my judgment, but delving into these detailed aspects made me clearly realize what kind of company this is.

‘It’s a black company.’

But it doesn’t matter.

“Yes, I’ll give it my best.”
“Haha, I really like your spirit! Hey! This guy is the real deal!”

Regardless, to save the world, I need to infiltrate the company and gather information through the employees.

“Here, sign this!”

And whether it’s a black company or not, it’s still a company where I can experience corporate life.

“With this, you, Seung-hoon Lee, are also an employee of Sarang Industries!”

I was still excited at the prospect of experiencing corporate life.

[You can start coming to work next week.]
[Arrival time is 7:30 AM, so come early.]
[Business attire is required in the office, so dress like you did today.]

My employment was confirmed. Although it was a black company, I was eager to start work with an excited heart, but there was an unexpected issue.

[Ah, do you have a car? You’ll need to travel to various places, so having your own vehicle is essential.]
[Doesn’t the company provide vehicles?]
[We have some, but probationary employees can’t use them. Why would we entrust a company vehicle to a probationary employee?]

I needed a car. And a driver’s license.

“I need to resolve this issue.”

Fortunately, the solution came quickly.

『I will resolve your concern, Mr. Seung-hoon.』
“Can you resolve it?”
『Yes, autonomous driving is one of my most basic functions that doesn’t even require electricity consumption. Additionally, I can hack and manipulate records to restore your revoked driver’s license.』

I had Sarang.

“Well, if mainstream AI is already promoting autonomous driving capabilities, it’s definitely possible for you, Sarang. Should I get an electric vehicle then?”
『No, autonomous driving is possible even with conventional vehicles.』

How is that possible for a regular vehicle? It had been an impossible realm, but considering Sarang’s original ability to hack even a computer made of wood, it didn’t seem entirely implausible either.

“Thanks, even though I want to drive directly, I’ll refrain from doing so until a solution is found.”
『More importantly, Mr. Seung-hoon, do you really intend to work at Sarang Industries?』
“Yes, why?”
『Here is some internal information about Sarang Industries.』

The wall-mounted TV turned on, displaying various cross-cutting screens.

『The chairman’s debauchery, the incompetence and political maneuverings of the superiors, the frequent resignations of employees who have lost their will, the unclear scope of work, a company atmosphere where superiors take all the credit while subordinates bear the actual burden… This is assessed to be a very undesirable company.』
“But I have to experience it to save the world.”
『If you need information from the employees, I can investigate by hacking their mobile phones, home computer cameras and microphones, and nearby CCTVs.』
“I don’t want to trouble you.”
『No, assisting you is the purpose of my existence.』
“…No, I’ll do it directly.”

I had almost lost the opportunity to experience working at a company.

『Then I will support you to the best of my abilities. Your desire is to build familiarity with the internal employees, and I will provide the utmost support for that. For this, I would like to utilize full authority over your financial accounts. Do you approve?』
“Yes, I’ll leave it to you, Sarang.”

I don’t know what kind of preparations she intends to make, but as an AI smarter than me, she’ll do a good job.

『Financial account transfer confirmed, beginning management.』
『There is too much idle cash in your accounts. Initiating investments.』
『Starting 125x leveraged cryptocurrency trading.』
『Starting futures trading.』
『Starting options trading.』
『Investment complete, proceeding with preparations for your perfect onboarding.』

The AI who loves humans was well aware of human darkness as well.

『To maintain familiarity with the employees, you must be superior.』
“I must be superior?”
『Humans generally tend to have high affinity or easily feel attracted to those superior to themselves.』
“I won’t deny it. It’s probably because humans are social animals. Especially since we can feel admiration and reverence.”
『Superiority is easily attained by possessing what others do not, and in Korea, visible material affluence has become firmly established as an indicator of superiority. Therefore, I will search for related products and make purchases without compromising on cost, as any compromise will significantly diminish the effect.』
“Considering our limited time before potential annihilation, you’re right, we should proceed that way.”

My bank balance started decreasing.

『Initiating purchases.』

“Oh man, my head, I’m going to die.”

On an early morning at the company, Section Chief Kim Pil-jung drank coffee to alleviate his hangover headache from drinking too much.

“Korean people really are the best at drinking.”
“Good morning, Section Chief Kim.”
“Oh, you’re here?”

Before going to the office, he met Deputy Manager Lee Seok-du, a subordinate from the same department, in the smoking room and chatted.

“Is your headache better?”
“I feel like shit. Age is catching up, back when I was young, this was nothing. I could chug soju like water and wake up perfectly fine after sleeping it off.”

As they chatted about this and that, the topic shifted elsewhere.

“By the way, do you think he’ll show up today?”
“Huh? Who?”
“The new guy.”
“Ah, Seung-hoon Lee? He probably won’t. There’s a reason someone is a middle school dropout. I noticed during the interview that his eyes looked so pure. A pure-eyed middle school dropout with no experience? That’s a sign of low intelligence. Those kinds tend to come, but who knows if they’ll last.”
“Yeah, I felt that way too.”
“But his name Seung-hoon Lee is the same as the Resolver Seung-hoon Lee, isn’t it?”
“Ah, probably just someone with the same name. More importantly, Section Chief, how did you handle that thing from before?”

Section Chief Kim Pil-jung grinned and showed his wrist.

“Exchanged it for a Rolex. Shady money has to be turned into physical assets to enjoy it properly!”
“Wow! Nice color! How much did it cost?”
“1,200. If I keep it for a while, the price will go up, right? Rolex retail prices tend to rise sooner or later.”
“Nice. But Section Chief, you really love luxury goods, don’t you?”
“Deputy Lee, as I always say, people need to be able to appreciate good things. Whether it’s people or objects, you need to be able to recognize quality to become quality yourself.”

The words “Is that why you embezzled and ended up in this shithole?” almost slipped out, but as always, Deputy Lee Seok-du just smiled and gave a thumbs up.

“You’re absolutely right, Section Chief!”

Because he had taken the lead in embezzling funds to help the section chief, receiving a cut in return.

“Let’s head inside.”
“Yes!”

At that moment, a vehicle entered the parking lot across from the smoking room.

“Section Chief?”
“…T.”
“Pardon?”

Section Chief Kim Pil-jung stopped in his tracks.

“Bugatti……”
“What T?”
“Bugatti La Voiture Noire……”

Deputy Lee Seok-du followed the gaze of the entranced section chief. At the end of it was a black vehicle that had just entered the parking lot.

“A 2.592 billion won car……”
“Huh!? For real?”
“Yeah……”

Had the chairman of some major conglomerate come to visit? The two men thought simultaneously.

‘Why would a major conglomerate chairman come to a shithole like this place?’
‘Why would a conglomerate chairman come to this kind of shithole?’

And shortly after, when they saw the person who exited the driver’s seat, the two men were left speechless.

“Ah, I see you both arrived early today.”

It was none other than the very dimwit they had just interviewed recently.

“Kiton suit… Patek Philippe… Berluti……”

Next to the section chief muttering about the items Seung-hoon was wearing, Deputy Lee Seok-du belatedly regained his senses and saw the hand extended towards him.

“Hello again, let me reintroduce myself.”

His eyes no longer looked dimwitted like a new hire.

“I’m the new employee starting work today, Seung-hoon Lee.”