Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Baek Seo-ryeon and Kang Hye-rim became friends quickly.
Maybe it was because they had something in common: they were both naive and clumsy in some ways, but they also had their own unique talents that set them apart from ordinary people.
They were already calling each other sisters, even though they had met for the first time today.
By the way, Kang Hye-rim was the older one.
“That should be enough for the contract.”
I said as I finished signing the contract.
For Baek Seo-ryeon, Kang Hye-rim and I were like a godsend.
She had offered us the best terms she could afford, and we had accepted them.
Kang Hye-rim, who had been watching quietly until now, asked.
“Hmm. Seo-ryeon, what does a manager usually do?”
She was older than Baek Seo-ryeon, so she spoke casually.
She seemed curious because she didn’t know much about this industry.
“Ah. Well, we basically support the collectors so that they can focus on their main work.”
It was similar to the role of the support team in the Celestial Corporation.
But if you think about how most of the tellers in the Story Room handle most of their work by themselves, you could say that managers have much more work to do than the tellers in the support team.
“Our main tasks are scheduling for the collectors, managing their diet and condition, coordinating their outfits, arranging appointments or interviews for them, or even acting as brokers.”
“Wow.”
Kang Hye-rim’s mouth dropped open, and so did mine.
“That’s a lot of work. Don’t you have any other staff to help you with that?”
“I don’t have any staff, so I have to do everything myself. Don’t worry. I know how to do it. I used to work for a pretty famous clan before I set up my own office. I quit because I didn’t get along with them, but I learned a lot.”
Was that what she learned from them?
It was enough to make anyone dizzy with the amount of work.
When Kang Hye-rim and I looked at her with astonishment, Baek Seo-ryeon blushed as if she realized her shortcomings.
“I’m sorry. Actually, I should be able to drive too, but I didn’t have enough money to buy a car because I was looking for an office…”
“…You can drive too?”
“Ah, yes. I have a regular and a large driver’s license.”
Well, regular is fine, but why a large one?
Did she plan to drive a truck or something?
It didn’t suit her petite frame and innocent appearance at all.
I couldn’t help but be surprised by her unexpected skills.
“…Is there anything else you can do?”
“Um. I also have an excavator operator certificate. And I can weld too.”
“What?”
“I thought I should have another way to make a living in case I fail at this job. It’s too late to get into a company now, so I might have to go to a construction site or something. You know.”
“…”
Anyway, Baek Seo-ryeon was much more capable than I had thought.
It was amazing that she had the ability to handle that much work.
It was even more impressive when you consider that most celebrity managers have separate drivers and schedulers.
Well, maybe that’s only possible for large clans and small management companies can’t help it.
Baek Seo-ryeon clenched her fists and said.
“Oh, anyway, I can work hard!”
“You don’t have to worry about that. We trust you. And you don’t have to do all those things by yourself. I will take care of things like choosing the Mental Realm or hiring other collectors, as well as managing the schedule.”
“Really? Do tellers usually do that much?”
Baek Seo-ryeon must have known that too, since she had worked in this industry before.
Tellers only sign contracts with collectors and nothing else.
What tellers care about is how many viewers visit their library and how many points they donate.
That’s all.
They don’t bother to build rapport with collectors or help them from behind.
Of course, that’s only true for ordinary tellers.
“I’m a bit special.”
“Ah, I see.”
“…I didn’t expect you to agree so easily.”
“Oops! Sorry!”
“No, it’s okay. It’s not something to be embarrassed about.”
If that was natural for her, then it was natural.
And looking at her actions, she was similar to Kang Hye-rim, so I wasn’t too surprised.
If anything, Kang Hye-rim was worse.
“Anyway, there’s nothing urgent for Hye-rim right now.”
“But is there anything else I can do?”
“Not right now. But maybe soon.”
A manager gets busy when the collector they are in charge of becomes more popular.
Of course, they would try to raise their popularity when they are not popular, but that’s my job here.
Right now, only the collectors knew about Kang Hye-rim, but soon the rumor of a female collector who cleared the Mental Realm would spread among the general public.
And everyone would know that the source of that rumor was Kang Hye-rim.
It wouldn’t take long for Baek Seo-ryeon to get busy then.
She should enjoy this leisure time while she can.
‘Besides, considering Hye-rim’s growth rate, she’ll have to challenge a real deal soon.’
And that would be the turning point for her to gain a solid reputation.
At the same time, the hyenas would start targeting us.
Of course, there are already some who are eyeing us.
Those who have a keen eye or a quick wit have already noticed my potential.
That Jinpoong guy must be one of them.
‘Come to think of it, he might be up to something behind my back.’
Given Jinpoong’s personality, he wouldn’t go straight to his boss and tell him what happened.
He was too proud to admit his mistake and would try to handle it on his own.
Getting his bruised ego back was a bonus.
‘I hope he does something sneaky.’
That way, I could use it against him and gain some momentum for our growth.
***
Yu-hyun’s guess that Jinpoong was plotting something behind his back was spot on.
“Damn it.”
Jinpoong was holed up in his [Room of the Observer] and browsing the Genesis Network.
He couldn’t get rid of the image of Yu-hyun cursing at him.
The more he tried to forget, the more vividly he remembered Yu-hyun’s mocking eyes.
“Ugh! You bastard!”
He remembered what he said and got angry.
“What? How dare you tell me to get lost? You’re not even going to treat me as a senior?”
Jinpoong was furious.
Yu-hyun’s words were not wrong, but Jinpoong never admitted his fault.
He just blamed Yu-hyun for everything and wondered how he could teach him a lesson.
Revenge.
Yes, I had to get revenge on him.
Jinpoong had decided that and was looking for a way to do it, but.
‘It’s not easy.’
With just two broadcasts.
No, with the third one that was added recently, Yu-hyun’s library had already taken root and started to establish itself.
A talented collector and a skillful teller who supported her perfectly.
The story they unfolded was enough to satisfy the Divine Spirits who were hungry for legends, and the rumor had already spread quickly.
Even looking at the regular employee board that Jinpoong was browsing, it was like that.
[Is it true that there’s a teller who just became a regular employee and hit the jackpot with his broadcast?]
[Are you kidding? Or is your standard of jackpot different?]
[No, no, he had over 100 viewers on his second broadcast.]
[Yeah, right. That’s fake.]
[No, it’s not. I have proof ㅅㄱ]
[I was curious too and I saw that his subscription rate was over 70% of his viewers?]
[Wowㄷㄷ How is that possible? Isn’t it good enough to have over 35% normally?]
[That’s why you shouldn’t listen to lies. Ha. I’ve been working hard for two years and barely have 50 viewers.]
[Who has over 100 in their second broadcast?]
[ㅉㅉThat’s why you should work harder.]
[What are you talking about working hard on the regular employee board? Aren’t we all the same here? We’re lucky to have 50, let alone 100.]
[He’s not the same as us with 100 viewers in his third broadcast ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Trueㅋㅋ He’ll probably get promoted soon and be higher than us. Isn’t he our future senior?]
[A senior I know told me that he completed his first step mission in less than three minutes.]
[Really? Are you spreading some weird rumors you heard somewhere?]
[No, I heard that too. That’s why everyone was looking for him at the entrance ceremony. Wow, but I didn’t expect him to be the same person. Talent is king.]
[You can do it too if you work hard.]
[Yeah. You can’t do it even if you work hard, right? You’re still an employee and not even an assistant manager, right?]
The anonymous and free atmosphere of the regular employee board was full of Yu-hyun’s rumors.
More importantly, Yu-hyun’s reputation didn’t stop at the employee board.
‘I’m sure it’s a mess on the upper boards too.’
Jinpoong, who was still an employee, couldn’t access the boards for assistants, managers, or directors.
But Yu-hyun’s presence was so strong that he could feel the impact even without looking at other boards.
Maybe the boards where the Divine Spirits gathered were also slowly spreading rumors about the new library on Earth.
‘Damn it! Do you know how hard some people worked to get here?’
Jinpoong was about to go crazy with jealousy.
He hated him enough already, but now he heard that he was doing well.
‘I’ll make him pay for ignoring me.’
Jinpoong had gone through some competition and endured until he got here.
Of course he knew how to shake his opponent in this situation.
He couldn’t attack Yu-hyun directly.
They were equal in rank after all.
And he couldn’t ask someone else to do it for him either.
Weren’t tellers protected by [Genesis’ Favor]?
Then the target had to change.
‘I’ll turn that girl collector upside down.’
The collector’s existence was essential for the broadcast.
If something happened to the collector?
Then the broadcast would be ruined and Yu-hyun’s library, which was on the rise, would plummet vertically.
When the target shifted to Kang Hye-rim, Jinpoong racked his brain and made a plan.
He didn’t need to do it himself anyway.
There were plenty of people who would do it for him if he just persuaded them with words.
‘Yeah. I’ll find them here.’
Jinpoong looked through the collector board that people didn’t pay much attention to and his eyes gleamed.
***
A week had passed since I signed a contract with Baek Hwa Management.
In the meantime, Kang Hye-rim had cleared two more Mental Realms.
They weren’t very difficult, but the fact that she cleared them was important.
Kang Hye-rim’s collector rank had risen as a result and she reached the seventh rank.
It was thanks to Choi Jung-mo’s influence.
Now, even among the general public, Kang Hye-rim’s name was starting to get some attention.
A rookie who succeeded in clearing the Mental Realm solo from the ninth rank.
Naturally, people were fascinated by the rumor and so were the Divine Spirits.
‘The number of viewers has already exceeded 200.’
It was remarkable growth considering that it had just passed 100 a while ago.
It might seem like only 100 more, but it was actually twice as much.
The difference was noticeable.
‘But the explosive increase rate that I showed at the beginning is starting to slow down.’
I was the owner of the library and I could see at a glance how many viewers visited my library and how many of them subscribed.
Even to me, there was a slight sign that the popularity that was burning up was cooling down.
‘This is the third crisis.’
I had passed the first and second stages of attracting attention and rising up based on that.
But the important thing was what came next.
The Divine Spirits liked my broadcast at first because it was novel, but after doing it a few times, they would get used to it and get bored.
That meant stagnation was inevitable and I needed a turning point to overcome it.
The important thing was the third crisis. Whether I succeeded or failed here would determine if I could go to a higher level.
‘And today, it’s time to show it.’
What I was going to show today was a gamble that couldn’t be compared to before.
I even chose a ‘special’ Mental Realm for that.
That’s why my eyes were more serious than ever.