Chapter 2: The Devil is in the Details (Part 2)

The atmosphere was icy—more like thin ice that would crack at any moment if anyone dared to disturb it.

“You don’t know what happened yesterday?”

“Oh, I’m aware of what occurred.”

“Aware? Really? Do you fully understand the gravity of the situation?” The manager’s eyes narrowed as he asked this, though he didn’t expect an answer. He let out a deep sigh and turned toward his assistant manager.

“If this employee claims to understand the gravity of the matter, perhaps we should explain things properly anyway.”

“Yes, sir.” The assistant manager’s gaze was fierce, his gaze sharp but restrained due to being in front of his superior. He proceeded while referring to some documents.

“The contract causing all these issues was signed with terms seventy percent less favorable than our previous agreement. The estimated damage amounts to approximately one hundred and thirty million won.”

Both the foreman and Director Park swallowed hard at this revelation. However, Lee Kyungbok’s expression remained unchanged as he stared blankly back at his superior.

“Even if we cancel now, there’s still a penalty fee of one hundred million won. Plus, it will inevitably tarnish our reputation.”

“Yes, given that situation…were you aware of all this, Mr. Lee Kyungbok?”

Though phrased as a question, his intention was clearly mockery. Thus, without waiting for a response, the director turned to the foreman.

“How do you plan to take responsibility for this?”

Before the foreman could answer, though, Lee Kyungbok interjected.

“Oh really?”

The director’s face twisted as he slammed his fist on the table at this insolent attitude. Everyone flinched at the loud bang except Lee Kyungbok himself.

“Hey! You think I don’t know what kind of bullshit you’re spewing?!”

“I wasn’t aware of that either,” Kyungbok calmly replied.

The director continued yelling, seemingly unconcerned about who might hear outside the room.

“You piece of shit! This isn’t something some lowly employee can take responsibility for! Are you going to say the same thing in front of the president?! We need to figure out how this happened and come up with countermeasures!”

The foreman trembled too much to respond, while even his supervisor looked frightened and kept stealing glances at him. Yet, Lee Kyungbok remained unfazed.

Soon, Director Park turned his ire toward them both.

“What the hell is going on at the construction site that this happened? Huh?! Were you drinking and partying instead of doing your job when you signed this contract?!”

The director caught his breath as he fumed. Meanwhile, the assistant manager watched him carefully for cues. When the director gave a slight nod, the assistant manager glared at Lee Kyungbok.

“First, explain why these numbers are listed here. This isn’t just a simple mistake, right?”

Finally, someone asked a relevant question. Lee Kyungbok responded clearly.

“These figures weren’t from the contract I prepared.”

“…What?”

“After yesterday’s meeting, Assistant Manager Jung contacted me. He said he would finalize the contract in my stead.”

Lee Kyungbok briefly explained the situation, and all eyes turned to their supervisor.

“What?! That’s ridiculous!” As expected, he immediately denied it. His acting was quite convincing even upon upon further scrutiny.

“I went straight home after work yesterday and rested!”

His voice brimmed with confidence. Lee Kyungbok had a good guess as to why.

He probably thinks my smart link can’t record calls.

The smart link Lee Kyungbok used was manufactured by Pineapple Inc., which didn’t offer call recording functionality. This assumption seemed confirmed when he tried re-recording the conversation yesterday without success. However, there was a workaround. By following an unofficial method not endorsed by the manufacturer, one could install a call recording app on the device.

“So what does this mean?”

“I’m not sure either. But couldn’t we easily find out by contacting our supplier?”

The others nodded, as it was indeed true. The foreman quickly chimed in.

“Mr. Lee, lying won’t change anything here. And if you’re going to lie, at least make it convincing! Did you really think that would work on us?”

“Oh boy, bringing in someone who can’t even lie properly… What an idiot!”

“This is ridiculous. Who hired this guy? Is HR doing their job or just messing around?” The assistant manager and director continued berating him. They had already labeled Lee Kyungbok as incompetent.

Throb.

The sudden pain almost made Lee Kyungbok swear aloud.

I knew it…

It wasn’t just one screw that had been loose. A cold smile spread across his face, and his voice was equally icy when he spoke next.

“You’re the ones who don’t know what you’re doing.”

“What?” The director’s eyes widened.

Taken aback, the foreman interrupted. “Hey! Are you out of your mind?!”

“It seems like you’ve lost yours as well.” Lee Kyungbok clicked his tongue dismissively. “Your subordinate missed a crucial detail, you lack judgment, and can’t even recognize talent. I’m not sure how you’ve managed to stay employed this long, sir.”

Lee Kyungbok looked back and forth between them before continuing. “Did you get promoted using the same tactics as your supervisor, since you were once his boss?”

“Lee Kyungbok! Have you lost your mind?!”

The foreman’s outburst only made Lee Kyungbok more determined to see this through.

“You’re saying all this because you’re confident you can handle it?” The director’s face turned so red, steam seemed about to erupt from his ears.

“Of course. Please check your smartlinks.” As everyone reflexively looked at their devices, they simultaneously heard vibrations and notification sounds. With wide eyes, Lee Kyungbok explained:

“It’s an email I sent.”

“…What?”

“To be precise, it was a scheduled email. I intended to report something unusual when the time came, but now it seems many people have received it.”

“What is this…?”

Lee Kyungbok smiled, which unsettled both his supervisor and the foreman. Why was he so confident?

Just then, heavy footsteps approached from behind Lee Kyungbok, followed by the door to the conference room slamming open.

Everyone sprang up at the sight of the unexpected visitor.

“P-President!”

“You’ve come!”

The four employees bowed deeply, but instead of returning their greeting, Lee Kyungbok stepped aside slightly.

The president’s gaze landed on the supervisor.

“Assistant Manager Jung.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Are you sure you had nothing to do with this contract?”

“Yes, absolutely not, sir!”

“You’re serious?”

“Yes.”

“Are you willing to take responsibility for what you just said?”

The supervisor trembled at the calm tone masking deep anger beneath it.

He’s trying to intimidate me, but he doesn’t know anything!

Confident that his plan was foolproof, the supervisor spoke with conviction. “Sir, haven’t I worked tirelessly for this company all these years? Isn’t that right, Foreman?”

“Assistant Manager Jung is truly exceptional, sir. I don’t think it’s fair how we’re treating him now.”

Ignoring the foreman’s input, the president turned toward the director instead.

“Director Cha, how did you manage your subordinate so poorly?”

“What? Did I make some kind of mistake?”

“Yes, it’s a massive mistake indeed.” The president held up his smartlink and pressed a button. A voice clearly belonging to the supervisor started playing for all present.

“Sir, just say you signed Lee Kyungbok alone. Won’t we both be better off if we leave it at that? That bastard will screw everything up anyway.”

The agitated tone made it clear what was happening. The expressions on the faces of the director, assistant manager, and foreman who had been defending the supervisor just moments ago shifted dramatically.

Seeing their countenances crack, the president sighed heavily. He then took a step back before approaching Lee Kyungbok again.

“Can I take it that you’ve made up your mind to handle this situation as such?”

“Yes, sir. No matter how I thought about it, if we handled things quietly, there would likely be more victims besides me. So I felt it was best to clean house before leaving.”

The president glared at the director and foreman before apologizing to Lee Kyungbok.

“Mr. Lee Kyungbok, my apologies. Please accept my sincere regret on behalf of our company. We will definitely resolve this issue properly and compensate for any damages incurred.”

“I appreciate that, given the circumstances.” With those words, Lee Kyungbok handed an envelope to the president. It contained his resignation letter.

“It seems like this job isn’t suited for me after all.”

“No, why so sudden…?”

Lee Kyungbok’s gaze shifted from the director to the foreman and finally landed on his supervisor, who looked like he was about to faint.

“This place is cursed with bad luck. You’ll have your fair share of troubles, sir. But since I’ve at least saved you some money, please compensate me accordingly with my severance pay.”

“Hmm… Well, there’s nothing else for it. I promise we will.” The president didn’t try to dissuade him further. Whistleblowing often led to this kind of outcome, and this case could be considered one of the better scenarios.

With that, Lee Kyungbok severed all ties with the company.

The door slammed shut behind him as he exited the conference room. Even through the closed door, the furious voice of the president echoed throughout the hallway.

The streets were quiet as Lee Kyungbok emerged after completing his resignation process. He started walking.

“I thought this job would last longer. With all that investment pouring in, I should’ve seen the writing on the wall. Tsk.”

While feeling relieved inside, he also harbored concerns. Lost in thought, his body automatically headed towards the familiar path to the bus stop.

As a bus approached, something caught his eye—specifically, the advertisement on its side:

[“Escape your mundane life with Domhwa!”]

[The ultimate virtual reality capsule!]

[Experience the difference with ‘Reality’ technology.]

[-Streamer DaltaNYang-]

Featuring an exaggerated and comical image of the streamer alongside catchy slogans, it was an ad for ‘capsules,’ devices used to access virtual reality.

“Streamer, huh…”

Lee Kyungbok couldn’t help but smile faintly at the ad’s tagline. He felt weary of reality as described, reminiscing about his school days when he mostly played games on PCs and consoles instead of virtual reality.

Back then, I had nothing to worry about.

Like many students in Korea, Lee Kyungbok was once deeply immersed in gaming.

I wish I could have become a pro gamer or retired early as one and worked as a coach.

He wasn’t just casually obsessed; he possessed considerable skill.

However, before he could fully indulge in nostalgia, his smart ring vibrated, pulling him back to the present.

“Hmm…”

Thinking it might be from work, he checked but found it wasn’t.

“What is this?”

<Hey, are you out on fieldwork? Can you talk?>

The caller was his childhood friend, Choi Byung-hoon.

“What fieldwork? That’s all over now.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“I resigned.”

“Resigned? Again?”

“You sound pretty happy about it.”

“This is insane!”

“Are you happy that I lost my source of income?”

“No, not at all. It’s just…I got fired too.”

“But last time we talked, you were bragging about how well your channel was doing.”

Choi Byung-hoon was Lee Kyungbok’s friend who worked as a freelance video editor.

“Dang it. I should’ve been more cautious from the start like you suggested. It was foolish to rely solely on what one fortune-teller said.”

“Yeah, I told you that fortune-teller seemed like a fraud.”

“Pfft! Anyway, this might be for the best. I was actually planning to invite you out for drinks. Let’s catch up when we meet.”

“What, who would want to meet me anyway?” Lee Kyungbok feigned offense and lowered his voice dramatically. In truth, there was no reason for him to refuse. He himself had been craving some drinks with friends, but he decided to tease Sungyoon a bit.

<Lol, we’re both jobless. Why are you rejecting my offer? Alright, let’s meet tonight. No, since I don’t have a job anymore, let’s meet earlier. You need to reevaluate your life. As compensation, I’ll buy dinner. Call me when you arrive.>

“Call. Let me just correct one thing.”

<One thing? What do you mean?>

“I wasn’t fired. I quit.”

<Did you really need to bring that up? Yeah, real classy, dude!>

Lee Kyungbok laughed at his friend’s response.

“Yes, see you later.”

It had been a day filled with many events.

He deserved a rest after such a day.