Chapter 19

Chapter 19. An Unprecedented Special Promotion (2)

The Commercial District Analysis Team without Kim Seokhun.

His name floated constantly through the employee lounge.

“Deputy Manager Kim is completely gone, right? He left without taking even one thing.”

“Yeah. I heard his resignation was accepted immediately. His stuff was moved into storage for now.”

“Hmm. Do you think he’ll come back for it? I really don’t want to run into him again. Hehe.”

The team members’ whispers leaked out of the lounge.

Oh Ilman and Choi Iseul.

Don’t worry.

Kim Seokhun had stopped packing and left because he had no intention of coming back.

“But what happens to the team leader position? Will someone new come?”

“Huh? Why are you asking the lowest-ranking employee that?”

“Because Staff Choi Iseul has pretty good instincts. Last year, you guessed that the division director would change and that the team leaders would be moved. You were right about everything.”

“Come on. I told you to forget that. I was just making things up like a novel.”

That was something even I found strange.

It happened not long after Choi Iseul joined the company.

Like most new employees, she hadn’t yet learned how to distinguish between things she could say and things she shouldn’t.

But strangely...

The ridiculous prediction she made during a company dinner had actually become reality.

She said a new division director would arrive and a massive personnel shake-up would follow.

Everyone laughed.

It didn’t take long before every word became true.

Rumors even spread that Choi Iseul might belong to the same Choi family as the chairman.

Thinking about it now, that seemed impossible.

Why would someone connected to the chairman enter the company as a new employee?

She hadn’t even been promoted for more than a year.

More importantly, she worked harder than anyone else at the lowest-level tasks.

“So even Iseul doesn’t know.”

“Right. What happened last year was just a lucky guess.”

“What about this time? Any feeling?”

Oh Ilman refused to give up.

He kept questioning Iseul as though she were some powerful shaman.

“Hmm. Looking at the current situation, wouldn’t Manager Kang be the strongest candidate? He’s practically been leading the team already. I hope he gets it. Then maybe our team can finally function properly.”

“Maybe mentally. Physically, we might die.”

“Why?”

“You’ve seen him. He works like crazy. If the team leader keeps running everywhere, can the rest of us sit around pretending we don’t see it?”

I only came for some water and ended up hearing all kinds of things.

I really had lived like a madman.

Partly because I wanted to avoid Kim Seokhun, but I had also insisted on personally visiting and analyzing every site.

But that was a pointless concern now.

If I became team leader, the Commercial District Analysis Team would never have to do that kind of physical labor again.

“What are you two talking about so seriously?”

I entered the lounge pretending I hadn’t heard anything.

Both of them bowed quickly and hid their expressions.

I didn’t think I had ever been particularly cruel to them.

Apparently they were still a little afraid of me.

“Good morning, Team Leader.”

“Yeah. Everything okay?”

They had clearly been curious.

Yet neither asked me anything directly.

I filled my tumbler with cold water and returned to my seat.

If I became team leader, how should I manage the team?

I was confident in the work itself.

Ten years spent cleaning up Kim Seokhun’s messes.

There wasn’t a single thing he did that I couldn’t do.

But why hadn’t I heard anything?

Had the relic discovery not been confirmed yet?

I had finally emptied the team leader position I wanted, but upper management hadn’t given any instructions.

Étoile.

Baristers.

Even preventing the relic disaster.

I wasn’t worried they would place someone else in the position.

They would decide this week.

I didn’t know what the director was thinking, but I hoped he made a wise decision.

I had a diary app that let me do almost anything.

And my expected resignation date was getting closer every moment.

I returned to my seat and organized my thoughts.

Just like when I had wondered what to do first if I won the lottery, I began thinking about how I would enjoy company life if I became team leader.

I had no intention of resigning before my building was completed.

Kim Seokhun, the cancer of the Commercial District Analysis Team, had been cleanly removed.

Only happy days remained for our team.

Just as Oh Ilman worried, I had no reason to run around physically anymore.

I had the diary app to tell me the future.

One year remained until my building stood proudly.

If I wanted to use that year properly, I needed to build a team that could operate without problems even if I put in very little effort.

Then I could move around outside the office without caring what anyone thought.

So I decided to use the diary app more actively.

When I recorded happiness for the first time, it updated and unlocked the Happiness Preview Function.

What kind of ridiculous ability would come next?

With that expectation, I called Assistant Manager Park Jongil over.

“Assistant Manager Park. Did you solve the Pyeongyang Sonmandu Mok-dong Branch issue?”

Jongil’s head rose above the partition like a meerkat.

His big eyes blinked.

“No. The prospective owner keeps rejecting everything. I think his standards are too high.”

“There are people like that. So what are you doing?”

“I’m buying time for now. We don’t have any more locations to recommend. Eventually he’ll choose one of the places we gave him, won’t he?”

“Really? How many locations did you analyze?”

“Two around Mok-dong Station and one near Yeomchang Station. They’re all good, but he’s unbelievably picky.”

“That can happen. If he makes the wrong choice, he could lose his entire life savings. Print the Mok-dong Branch analysis report for me. I’ll look at it.”

Jongil blinked rapidly.

It probably felt awkward.

This was something I could never do while Kim Seokhun was team leader.

If he caught me advising the other team members, he would cause a huge scene and accuse me of acting above my position.

“...Yes! Give me a moment.”

Jongil pressed print and headed toward the printer.

I hid my smartphone beneath the monitor.

“Here it is, Manager Kang.”

“Thanks. I’ll call you again after reviewing it.”

“Yes, Manager Kang. Thank you.”

He returned to his seat.

I read about the first location among the recommended sites near Mok-dong and Yeomchang Station and wrote a fake diary entry.

[Wednesday, April 22.

We decided to open Pyeongyang Sonmandu Mok-dong Branch at 323 Sinjeongjungang-ro, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul.

The prospective owner wanted something better, but I’ll persuade him by promising to take responsibility if anything goes wrong.

This location is guaranteed to work.

There is no better location.]

After writing the fake entry, I counted silently.

Five seconds.

Six.

Seven...

Ten.

The diary app remained silent.

So it doesn’t work like this?

I remembered how I discovered the waste-oil tank beneath Daeyoung Precision.

Back then, I had personally inspected the location.

I had also been sitting in the real estate office with every relevant document in my hands.

So I can’t get something for nothing?

To figure out the precise activation conditions, I underlined Park Jongil’s data and memorized it as thoroughly as possible.

Then I checked the address, loaded the road view on my monitor, and examined the alley layout and the locations of nearby competitors.

I studied Park Jongil’s document and related information as thoroughly as if it were my own task.

Then I slightly modified today’s diary entry.

All inventions in the world began because people wanted convenience.

My trick to make life a little easier finally worked.

Bzzzt.

My wrist vibrated.

The corner of my mouth rose automatically.

A new diary entry appeared on the smartphone hidden beneath the monitor.

[XX/XX.

The owner of Pyeongyang Sonmandu Mok-dong Branch began a one-man protest in front of the main entrance.

My full name was written in red on the protest sign he held.

Why did I force that location through?

The side road that served as the only vehicle access route was designated as a car-free street, completely blocking the entrance.

If I had checked more carefully, I could have known that change was scheduled...

It was the worst mistake of my life.]

The text was red.

But that was fine.

I wasn’t actually going to recommend that location.

Good.

I had discovered in thirty minutes a problem that would normally require at least an entire day of investigation.

And saving time wasn’t the only benefit.

By using my own future, I could also see other people’s future outcomes.

That was incredible.

When I deleted the fake diary entry, the future misfortune vanished with it.

After easily identifying the future disaster, I drew a large red X next to the first location and moved on to the next one.

Surely at least one of the sites Park Jongil had analyzed would produce blue text.

I was using the diary app to its fullest to find the optimal location when...

“Right?”

Startled, I instinctively flipped my smartphone over.

Jongil was standing behind me, looking down with narrowed eyes.

“W-Why are you sneaking up without making any sound? Right about what?”

“You were cursing me in your head, weren’t you? Just now, you kept looking between the monitor, your smartphone, and my report while muttering. Were you thinking, ‘You call this work?’”

I laughed in disbelief.

“Cursing you? No. Nothing like that.”

“Then why are you hiding your phone? You were just tapping on a completely black screen like someone dying of frustration.”

What was he talking about?

I stared at Jongil and turned the smartphone over again.

The diary app was still clearly running.

“You really can’t see this?”

“I can. An old smartphone that probably needs to be retired soon. Haven’t you used it for almost ten years?”

Not quite ten years...

Wait.

That wasn’t important.

“You seriously see nothing?”

“I see something. The huge red X you drew on my report. Why? Is there a problem?”

A thrilling shock spread through my entire body.

Was the diary app visible only to me?

To everyone else, did it simply look like a black screen with the power off?

Then I didn’t need to avoid people when checking it.

Even my awkward attempts to secretly check the screen in front of the director had been unnecessary.

“Tell me now. What’s the problem?”

“The report isn’t wrong. I just noticed a few things that concern me, so I wrote some notes. Use them as reference. That’s all. Personally, I think the third location looks best.”

I returned the report and continued touching the diary app.

A screen nobody else could see.

That meant I could openly cheat by checking the future in front of anyone.

“Manager Kang. Do you need my help with anything?”

Just after lunch.

Deputy Manager Geum Seokcheol of the Store Development Team entered the Commercial District Analysis Team.

Like a hyena watching prey through the glass wall, Geum Seokcheol had been keeping an eye on the team.

One of his competitors for promotion to department head had disappeared.

A perfect opportunity had appeared.

“My help?”

“Yes! The team leader position is empty. If there’s anything you need to report upward, I can help. Even basic operational reporting must be difficult right now, isn’t it?”

His intentions were obvious.

Jinhyeok smiled bitterly.

The Commercial District Analysis Team and Store Development Team had many overlapping duties.

Geum Seokcheol probably intended to help while quietly collecting some of the achievement for himself.

He wasn’t exactly a bad person.

Just strangely irritating.

Jinhyeok disliked the situation.

He disliked the fact that Seokcheol assumed the team would develop problems merely because Kim Seokhun was gone.

“I appreciate your concern, but I can handle it. I’ll lead the team members properly and make sure there are no interruptions in our work.”

In the politest way possible, Jinhyeok told him to mind his own business.

But Seokcheol wasn’t someone who would back down that easily.

“Well, you might think that now. But you shouldn’t act like you’re already the team leader. They might send someone from outside, you know?”

“I acted like I was already team leader?”

“You just said you’d lead the team members. I’m saying you should be careful with that kind of statement. If upper management is taking this long, we can’t rule out the possibility there’s another reason.”

He deliberately said it loudly enough for the team members to hear.

Jinhyeok looked around the team and sighed.

Annoying.

He was intentionally dragging out the possibility everyone was already worried about, crushing the team’s morale.

Deciding there was nothing to gain by continuing the conversation, Jinhyeok searched for a suitable way to drive Seokcheol away.

Should I reveal a few embarrassing issues in the Store Development Team and tell him to worry about his own department? Or should I tell him I’m basically team leader already, so stop treating me like this and go back?

As he thought...

The smartphone resting on his desk lit up.

A diary entry appeared that perfectly fit the current situation.