How to Survive Restructuring

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Chapter 101: New Employee Lee Eunho (1)

"Hello! I'm new employee Lee Eunho. I look forward to working with you!"

Even though I had entered a company three times before, not counting part-time jobs—

"!!"

There had never been an entrance ceremony.

Most of the time, I wasn’t a publicly recruited new hire, and while there were training programs, I had never seen a company that held such grand events.

So what I’m saying is—

[Attention, everyone.]

[The new employee entrance ceremony will begin shortly. All attendees, please proceed to the designated areas.]

This was my first time seeing something like this.

An endless field of grass was filled with people.

Tens of thousands of individuals, all different in race, gender, and age, had gathered here.

"Hang on! Are they all survivors?"

"えぇっ! 人が多いですね-!"

"喂! 会说汉语吗?"

All the survivors of Earth had come together in one place.

People who had shed unimaginable amounts of blood now observed each other—skin color, hair color, facial features all different.

How strong are they?

How cruel are they?

Friend or foe?

Though the languages were different, the thoughts were the same.

Flash!

Instead of the usual green lines that appeared, today, hundreds of massive circles spread across the blue-green grass.

They shone brilliantly, as if a rainbow had been scattered across them.

"We are… Oh! Over there!"

"Wow, there are already so many people!"

"Phew… They all seem to be Koreans, hyung!"

"Looks like they've divided areas based on country of origin."

And as we stepped into the area our map indicated—

Trickle, trickle, trickle…!

A massive fountain in the center welcomed us.

Instead of water, chocolate flowed down in streams.

"!!"

That wasn’t all.

A table, carved from a giant gemstone, was covered with food and drinks I had never seen before.

Music, seemingly played by hundreds of different instruments, filled the air without pause.

A splendor unlike anything seen before.@@novelbin@@

"Damn! What’s with this scale?"

"This is unbelievable."

Some were overwhelmed by the grandeur,

"What is this? Are they trying to treat us well before killing us?"

"Is this one of those ‘eat well before you die’ kind of things?"

while others were on guard.

"Dad! Can I eat the chocolate?!"

"Yes, Yura. Go ahead."

Yura cheered.

Tap tap!

Struggling with her small height, Yura grabbed a cookie from the table.

Then, like an excited puppy on a snowy day, she ran over and dunked it into the chocolate fountain.

"Choco!"

Sticky chocolate dripped down her fingers, but no one stopped her.

Because the pure joy on Yura’s face, just from a single cookie dipped in chocolate, was too precious to interrupt.

"Looks delicious!"

As she beamed with happiness, about to take a bite—

Thud!

Someone passing by knocked Yura’s hand with their leg.

Plop!

The cookie fell to the ground.

"Cho… choco…?"

"Damn it."

A dark stain was all that was left on the man’s pants.

"Waaahhhh!"

Yura burst into tears.

It wasn’t just because she lost her cookie.

"Filthy…."

The man scowled in disgust.

Yura hiccupped, frightened by his intimidating presence.

Tap!

Then, the man nudged Yura away with his foot.

"What’s a brat like you still doing alive?"

He muttered nonsense as he inspected his pant leg.

"H-Hey!"

Hanul picked up the crying Yura and shouted.

He had just witnessed someone treat his daughter like trash.

It was a situation where anger was the only appropriate response, where an apology was clearly due—

"You should be asking what your daughter was doing."

"What…?"

"She dirtied my clothes. That kid."

Did this guy lack the ability for normal reasoning?

"A child is more important than some clothes!"

"How can you be so sure? That your daughter is more important than my clothes?"

The sheer confidence in his voice left Hanul speechless.

"This suit was made by an Italian master tailor who only creates one piece a year. Even the wealthiest people in the world fight over it, yet now, no amount of money can buy another. And you think your daughter is worth more than that?"

"W-What?"

"This suit maintains my body temperature and elegance. As you can see. But your daughter? She only diminishes others' value, not enhances it."

"How can you say such nonsense…!"

Then, the man casually gestured toward another person—Jang Hanil, who walked with a limp.

"Ha, didn’t the local area do basic screening? A kid and even a cripple… That’s a bit much."

"You bastard, say that again!"

"Senior! Please, calm down!"

Huh?

Just as I was about to step forward at the absurdity of it all, Jieun whispered in my ear.

"He's the youngest son of MS Group."

"MS Group?"

That meant…

He was part of the conglomerate family Jieun and I had worked for.

Now that I looked closer, there were many people standing behind him.

Like bodyguards or attendants.

"His name is Myung Seungtae, the youngest of MS Group. He spent most of his life overseas, so he’s barely been exposed to the media. Looks like he’s back in Korea now."

A chaebol family's youngest son, huh?

"Ahh. That explains why there are so many people around him. Even celebrities, too."

"Well, uh… I’ve heard rumors about him, and they’re not great. The PR team is struggling to keep them under control."

Well, whatever the case—

"I guess your area had it easy. But don’t get cocky. Just because you survived doesn’t mean you deserved to."

"……!"

Being a chaebol or whatever no longer matters.

"Let's stop this."

Step.

As Hanul, visibly enraged, tried to step forward, I intercepted him.

"And who are you?"

"And who are you, then?"

Since he cut off his words, I did the same.

At that, Myung Seungtae frowned in displeasure and scanned me from head to toe.

"Hah, do you not even know how to follow basic TPO? That says a lot about your level."

So instead of responding with words—

"Summon."

I drew my sword, unsheathed it, and placed it right on his shoulder with a thunk!

Maybe it's because my agility stat had increased.

My movements felt faster.

In reality, he couldn't even react before the sharp blade was right at his throat.

"……What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh."

Vwoom-!

The Skybreaker Sword trembled with anticipation.

Its killing intent radiated so fiercely that it felt like it could cut even the gazes directed at it.

"According to my TPO, this is appropriate. A situation where a sword is needed."

"What the hell are you talking about?! Do you even know what TPO means…?"

"If you're going to keep spouting nonsense, you'd better be ready to stick out your tongue."

Flinch!

Even the chaebol's youngest son trembled.

"Just because you were lucky enough to survive doesn't mean you deserved to. Isn't that right?"

"A-Are you threatening me?! You arrogant little—!"

He turned back and yelled at his group.

"What are you all doing?! Just standing there?!"

Flinch!

At Myung Seungtae’s outburst, two big guys immediately stepped forward.

After a slight hesitation, another three moved.

And three more wavered, seemingly unsure.

'So, eight in total.'

Thanks to my agility stat and heightened perception, I quickly assessed their numbers.

'Huh?'

Among them, I caught a glimpse of a familiar face—just for a moment—before it disappeared.

"Ji……."

And then.

[All participants have entered.]

[The new employee initiation ceremony will now begin!]

['The Eye' is opening!]

Crack—!

A giant eye opened.

Rumble, rumble, rumble—!

"An e-earthquake?!"

"Y-your sword! Be careful! That’s dangerous!"

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"Shut up."

In the middle of the vast green field, a platform began to rise.

A truncated pyramid shape.

Had they carved an entire block of platinum to make it?

It shone so brightly under the light that it was almost blinding.

Shhhk—!

A red carpet unfurled over the stairs leading to the platform, making it at least somewhat bearable to look at.

【A new observer has entered.】

【A new observer has entered.】

【A new observer has entered.】

……

As the constant notifications flooded in, I struggled to keep up.

Flash!

And then, someone appeared in the air.

A woman with golden hair tied up high and wearing a headset microphone.

[Hi there-!]

Huh?

[Oops! Sorry.]

"Eek! W-we're doing this in English?!"

Jaehyuk flinched and asked, but he sighed in relief at the system message that immediately followed.

[For smooth proceedings, a common language patch is now being applied.]

Fwoosh!

A refreshing breeze swept past my ears before vanishing.

And then, the woman resumed.

[Hello, everyone!]

[I’m Sera, the mascot of the Public Relations Department and today’s host for the ceremony!]

[It looks like we have quite a large attendance this year!]

"What the hell is that…? Ack!"

Meanwhile, Myung Seungtae, who had been struggling to pry my sword away, cut his own hand on the blade.

I didn’t understand why he screamed when he was the one who brought his hand to it.

[Oh?]

[Some of you are already fighting!]

[Shall we broadcast it live-?!]

Sling!

I slowly withdrew my sword while watching the guy tremble like a drenched rat.

That should be enough of a warning.

I don’t need excessive attention.

[Aww, it’s already over! What a shame!]

[Now, back to the explanation…]

"You bastard… How dare you wound me…!"

"Be grateful that’s all you got. Say one more dumb thing, and I’ll take your head off next time."

"Hic…!"

Myung Seungtae trembled violently.

Meanwhile, the host wrapped up her greetings, thanking everyone for their participation.

[…And with that, the restructuring of District 13 has been successfully completed!]

[The total number of survivors in District 13: 100,000!]

[Originally, the world population was 7 billion, so that’s quite a drastic decrease, isn’t it?]

[Big thanks to all participants and managers for your efforts-!]

Well, I could understand thanking the participants, but thanking the managers too?

Were they grateful for reducing the numbers?

What a consistent company policy.

I let out a bitter chuckle.

[Now then—]

[Let’s begin the opening ceremony!]

Bang! Bang! Boom!

Fireworks exploded across the sky.

Even in broad daylight, the vivid colors were clearly visible.

The loud sound made my ears ring.

Fwooosh!

Multicolored orbs floated into the air and scattered in all directions.

More precisely, one orb per designated area.

"What the? Why is it coming this way?"

"Are we supposed to break them or something?"

Since they stopped above us, I expected fireworks or confetti to burst.

[Now, everyone!]

[Check your entrance exam results!]

[The rankings for each district are also listed!]

Puh-ong—!

The results exploded out.

* * *

〔District Rankings (ROK)〕

Lee Eunho

Park Gongchan

Yeon Bora

Jang Hanil

Myung Seungtae

……

2000. Kim Minsu

A blue orb split in half and burst open.

From within, a stiff sheet of paper unraveled like a roll of toilet paper.

It was the results sheet listing the rankings of all 2,000 applicants.

[Can you see the top rankers of each district?]

[These individuals will serve as district representatives during the new employee training period!]

[District representatives will be assigned additional tasks, but if they complete them successfully, they will receive special incentives—so do your best!]

A district representative?

Are they planning to make us compete by district?

"The restructuring is over, but the work continues?"

As I pondered over the woman's words—

"5th place? Me?"

Myung Seungtae muttered, his face scrunching up.

Hah.

Come to think of it, he had been boasting about verification tests and such, but in the end, he ranked lower than Jang Hanil.

Of course, ranking 5th nationwide was still impressive…

"Oppa! Weren't you supposed to be the strongest? We even funneled all our points to you!"

"Th-There must have been hidden talents. Probably guys who were physically dominant, like soccer player Park Gongchan. Among the brainy ones, I'm probably ranked the highest."

So, he had to bring others down just to lift himself up?

Not exactly the most impressive accomplishment.

"Hmmm… Is that so?"

"You look doubtful… If you're worried, should we split up from now on?"

"H-Huh? No way! Of course, I trust you! If I don't trust you, who else would I trust?"

Sigh.

People who talk big never turn out to be reliable.

"But, Oppa! Who do you think Lee Eunho is?"

"Well, it’s obvious. Some musclehead with nothing but brute strength."

"Pfft—Really?"

At that moment—

"That bastard…"

"Did he just say…?"

"How dare he…!"

My companions all flared up at once.

"How could he call Eunho a musclehead?!"

Right.

I wasn't exactly the burly type—hmm?

"Does that guy even have eyes?! Even in just a dress shirt, his physique is this good!"

Uh… It seemed like they were getting mad about something a little strange.

I wasn't particularly interested, but I also didn't feel like stopping them, so I just waited.

[Next, we will proceed with the New Employee Representative Award Ceremony!]

The announcement played.

[The New Employee Representative was chosen based on the most outstanding entrance exam performance in District 13, through a completely fair process!]

[The selected representative should come up to the stage immediately!]

"A New Employee Representative…"

"Wow, does that mean they're the strongest here?"

"What kind of reward are they giving out?"

[The New Employee Representative for District 13 is…]

With 100,000 people watching—

"No way…"

[Congratulations!]

[The representative of ROK-SEO district—Lee Eunho!]

[Please come forward!]

Sigh.

So basically—

[Everyone, please give a thunderous round of applause! Waaah—!]

If you're going to give me an award, just do it quietly.

Please!

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