MTC 01

Chapter : 01

When I had just graduated from college, I thought all companies were pretty much the same.

Of course, I knew that large corporations were impressive places to work, but I believed that all the companies below them were more or less alike.

As the eldest of three siblings, I felt a sense of urgency. I needed to find a job quickly and become independent.

So I believed that as long as I could get a job somewhere, anywhere, I would have fulfilled my responsibility.

I got a job immediately after graduating from college.

It was a company located in the Seoul metropolitan area, with fewer than twenty employees.

I had no dreams, nor did I have any particular desire to make good use of my college major. Any company that paid me a proper salary was good enough for me.

“Choi, you really shouldn’t join a company recommended by a professor. And it’s not even a large corporation. It’s just a small or medium-sized business.”

“My professor said it has a lot of potential for growth. He said I could grow alongside the company.”

“That’s just something people say to make it sound good. You’re really going to have a hard time if you go there.”

The company I currently worked for was one my professor had recommended to me when I was about to graduate.

People around me tried very hard to talk me out of joining a company recommended by a professor.

But the fact that I could start working immediately after graduation meant that… I couldn’t hear a word they said.

“Making money isn’t supposed to be easy anyway. I’ll be fine.”

“What are we going to do about our Chihuahua…?”

“Don’t casually call me Chihuahua.”

For the first three months after joining the company, I thought I was one of the lucky ones.

While my friends were suffering through the job-hunting process, I had already become a proper working adult.

I felt so proud of myself for going to work. I thought I was doing something admirable and cool.

That was how I felt for exactly three months.

Yes, precisely until my probationary period ended.

Looking back, there had been so many warning signs…

Warning signs telling me to run away from that place before it was too late…

“Wait, there really was a shaman sitting there during your interview?”

“Not a shaman. A physiognomist…”

“Hey, come over here and listen to this! Chihuahua went to an interview, and they even had someone read her face!”

My interview story became something people in my department would gossip about for ages.

By now, even the freshmen knew that I had interviewed at a gukbap restaurant and that there had been a physiognomist sitting among the executives.

Still, the physiognomist had said a lot of nice things about me.

Apparently, I was overflowing with good fortune when it came to the people around me.

“Benefactors are naturally drawn to you, and your overall appearance suggests that you attract good fortune. Your saju also indicates that you’ll build success through your own efforts. You’re the kind of person who can turn a ditch into a river just by sitting in one place, so put her somewhere that involves a lot of talking.”

“Then we should put her in charge of recruitment. She’ll select excellent talent and help the company grow tremendously.”

Anyway, thanks to the physiognomist’s bizarre and mysterious compliments, the company president decided to hire me right then and there.

When I joined the company, I was assigned to the newly cobbled-together Management Support Team. Naturally, I was its only employee.

I received my handover from the president’s wife, who had been handling the relevant duties on everyone else’s behalf until then…

And from the moment I joined the company until now, I had been responsible for practically everything needed to keep the business running, including human resources, accounting, and general administration.

For a full four years.

It took me four years to finally come to my senses…

Four years to realize that this company was the infamous kind of black company that people online crudely referred to as a complete shitshow of a workplace!!

They said I was blessed with good connections, but wasn’t the professor who shoved me into this company a source of misfortune rather than good fortune?

“Wawa, where are the plastic bags?”

As I snapped out of my thoughts, the miserable reality of the office spread out before my eyes once again.

“Honestly, Manager, it’s been ages since Choi became a team leader, yet you’re still calling her an assistant manager. Team Leader Chihuahua. Oops, my mistake. Team Leader Choi, is that really all the holiday gifts the president said we were getting? Are you sure?”

“Manager Kim! If you arrive late, all the kitchen supplies will be gone. Didn’t you say the madam told you to make sure you took some dishwashing detergent?”

“Wait! Anyone who’s been with the company for less than three years, keep your hands off the shopping bags! The only thing you’re allowed to touch is the Styrofoam boxes! Take some fruit and be happy with that!”

As you might expect, the company I worked for didn’t provide holiday gifts of its own.

Every year, it was customary for employees to open the gifts received from outside companies and divide the contents among themselves.

And more gifts had arrived addressed to me than to the president.

The kitchen supplies had been sent by a business partner who had noticed that I personally washed the employees’ cups every morning…

The boxes full of fruit and the nutritional supplements had also been sent by people who said I looked pale and worn out.

“What good is being a team leader when you’re the only person on the team? Wawa, are there any gift certificates? I saw you going to get the president’s approval for a gift certificate purchase a while ago.”

“There are some… but they’re worth only 1,000 won each. Would that be all right? The president said the maximum is five per person.”

“Five? So, 5,000 won?”

“Yes… But if you take the gift certificates, you won’t be allowed to take anything from the bags. The president said you have to choose one or the other…”

I silently watched Manager Park walk away with a hopeless expression before returning to the work I had been doing.

I held a pen in one hand, and on my desk lay a job application form I’d printed out at home.

If I filled it out on the company’s computer, there would be a record of everything I did. So I planned to complete it on paper first and transfer everything onto the computer when I got home.

That’s right. I was going to change jobs.

Just as the physiognomist had predicted, the company had grown tremendously during the four years I’d worked there.

It had filed numerous patents, gained more business partners, and significantly increased its revenue.

It was all thanks to the talented former employees.

Every time passionate, skilled, and perceptive people joined the company, they helped it advance to the next level before eventually leaving.

If they had continued coming to work, the company might have become a mid-sized enterprise or even gone public by now.

The important thing was that every single one of those star employees had left. Not one of them remained.

“The only reason I managed to endure this place for so long was because I liked the people here. Especially you, Choi. You were the reason I held on.”

“Who would want to make a company like this their lifelong workplace? Still, thanks to you, Manager, I got to pursue my dreams for a while before leaving. Let’s make sure we meet again. I’d love to work with you again someday.”

Even as revenue increased, salaries remained frozen, and the performance bonuses they’d promised were repeatedly swept under the rug.

Because of the president’s miserly attitude, some employees who had gotten into the habit of coming to work without thinking much about it still believed our company was poor.

“Choi, just think of this as advice from an older sister who cares about you. Change jobs. There’s no future here. You’re far too talented to waste your time at this place. You’d do wonderfully wherever you went, and you’d be treated much better.”

It was only after a close colleague resigned that the scales finally fell from my eyes.

“Ask for a salary increase. If they refuse, leave without looking back.”

The president refused to meet my demands, and I eventually decided to change jobs.

White was the paper, and black were the letters.

It had been years since I’d written a résumé, and my rusty brain wasn’t working very well.

As I continued writing against the background noise of employees arguing over how to divide the holiday gifts, the paper gradually filled with what looked like a fairly respectable list of qualifications.

‘Would any company accept this kind of work experience? Everyone who left said that wherever they went, it would be better than this place, but…’

Even if I somehow managed to pass the résumé screening, I was worried about the interview.

‘Hello, my name is Gong Choi. As for the duties I handled at my previous company… absolutely everything.’

“Hey, Chihuahua.”

‘I’ve even cooked meals at the company every morning. Thanks to that, I can make just about any kind of soup… Hmm, maybe I shouldn’t mention that?’

“Chihuahua! What are you thinking about so deeply? Aren’t you going to take any gifts?”

I jumped in surprise and hurriedly scattered the documents around to make them look less conspicuous.

They didn’t catch me writing my résumé, did they?

“Huh? Oh… the gifts. You can just take my share, Department Head. I’m fine. I’m a little busy with the accounts…”

“Oh! No taking that back! You’ve worked so hard every time.”

Judging by his reaction, thankfully, he didn’t seem to have noticed.

I was about to put the résumé into my bag when I suddenly noticed that the name field had already been filled in.

Chihuahua.

Apparently, without realizing it, I’d written down the name the department head always called me.

For a moment, irritation surged through me, and I wanted to tear the paper to shreds. But since I was going to transfer the information onto another sheet anyway, I left it alone.

Quitting time was approaching.

I passed the remaining time watching everyone continue to squabble over the holiday gifts.

Tick.

The minute hand of the company anniversary clock hanging on the wall—a clock belonging to some other company—pointed precisely to twelve.

I stood up from my seat.

“Oh? Wawa, are you leaving right on time?”

“Ah… Something urgent came up.”

In four years, I had never once left work at the scheduled time.

The president believed that the longer someone stayed at the office, the better they were at their job.

Normally, I would have waited until the president’s designated time to leave. But now that I was preparing to resign, there was no reason to do that anymore.

“I’ll be leaving first.”

It was such an ordinary thing to do, yet it felt like a tremendous act of rebellion to me. I even felt a tiny bit guilty.

The bus, which I usually had to wait ages for, arrived just as I left the company. I even managed to get a seat.

I had a feeling that today was going to be an exceptionally lucky day.

“Wow, I’ve never seen that shop open before.”

Whenever I finished work, the shop was already closed for the day. I’d only ever seen its doors shut.

Thinking I’d stop by while I had the chance, I reached into my bag for my wallet. But the résumé I’d carelessly stuffed inside suddenly slipped out of my bag.

There wasn’t even the slightest breeze, yet, strangely enough, the résumé escaped from my bag and flew away as though it were trying to run from me.

“Hey! Where are you going?!”

Embarrassed at the thought of someone else seeing it, I hurried to retrieve it. But the résumé kept drifting farther away, always just beyond my reach.

This bizarre chase continued all the way to the end of the alley.

And just as I was finally about to catch it—

“…!”

A hole suddenly appeared in thin air, and the résumé slipped right inside.

“W-What…? Am I so tired that I’m seeing things?”

I froze in place, too shocked to move. Then I heard a voice coming from beyond the hole.

A strange voice, resonating with tremendous power, spoke.

“I’ve received your résumé. You’re hired.”

Before I could even begin to understand what was happening, a gigantic hole opened beneath my feet.

Below me was nothing but an utterly black void, with nothing visible at all.

“Aaaaaah!”

The next moment, I plunged into that void.

It happened in an instant, leaving me no time to escape.