The na “Custor Satisfaction Center” evoked images of a packed office with rows of headsets and nonstop ringing phones, or a departnt-store counter where people exchanged gift certificates.
“Is this really the Custor Satisfaction Center?” Ji-Eun asked.
“At this rate, even satisfied custors would run for their lives...” Jae-Hyuk muttered.
However, the room they entered was barely larger than a cheap, forty-thousand-won gosiwon[1]. Cramd together inside were a single office desk, a three-seater couch, and a small coffee table.
“Not only is this office tiny, but there’s only one desk,” Eun-Ho noted.
Jae-Hyuk eyed the windowless room suspiciously. “Office? You sure this isn’t a storage closet?”
Ji-Eun hesitantly stepped in after them. “Even storage rooms aren’t this filthy...”
“Ugh... It looks like a pigsty, Noona,” Jae-Hyuk said.
That was generous. Being compared to this would offend even pigs. Piles of trash, paper cups, cigarette butts, and who knew what else were all over the place. The floor was also littered with empty, half-finished, and unopened coffee cans.
“Pigsty, cowshed, whatever it is, the person who lives here is definitely addicted to coffee,” Eun-Ho said.
The lone desk wasn’t any better. Papers, utensils, and junk were piled high enough to collapse. Eun-Ho wondered how anyone could work here at all, especially when he compared it to the obsessively neat desk of the Audit Bureau’s supervisor.
“Hey, isn't it a bit much to call this place a pigsty and a coffee addict?” Apparently, the room wasn’t empty. Behind the mountain of docunts, a man who had been lying across two chairs pushed himself up. His hair was sticking out in every direction. “New hires? And a kid?”
“Yes. Are you the team manager?” Eun-Ho asked.
“The manager?" The man waved lazily, clearly just waking up. "No, no, nothing like that. Relax. I’m the only one here anyway.”
So he'll be our ntor from Sales...
He was nothing like the ambitious Cheong Jeong or the rigid blond ntor from the Audit Bureau.
“There’s a couch over there. Yeah, it’s ssy, so just shove stuff aside and have a seat.”
“Um... Where should we put these jackets?” Ji-Eun asked.
“Wherever. Just tidy them up a bit.”
“Yes, sir.”
“By the way, Short Hair. What’s your na?”
“Oh, I’m Kim Ji-Eun.”
“Hmm. Pretty na.”
They hadn’t spoken much yet, but Eun-Ho already had a word for him: a slacker. The office was in shambles, yet the first thing the man did when he woke up was fix his collar and check his reflection. Rather than lazy, the man simply did whatever he wanted and ignored everything else.
“Anyway, just think of this as two days of rest. That’s what training is for, right?”
“I heard we’ll be ranked by sales performance. Do you know anything about that?” Eun-Ho asked.
If the ntor couldn’t even pretend to guide his juniors, then Eun-Ho had to take it upon himself to ask the right questions. Otherwise, the man really would do absolutely nothing throughout their entire OJT.
“Ranking?”
“They said departnt placent benefits depend on performance.”
“Oh, that?” The ntor stretched and yawned. “Don’t take it too seriously. You’ll all fail anyway.”
Fail? All of us?
“Have you tried this project during your OJT, too?” Eun-Ho asked.
“Yeah, a long, long ti ago.”
“Can you give us any tips? I really want to get the placent benefits.”
“Hmm...”
Though Eun-Ho didn’t know what the benefits were, getting them was always better than not. He himself was free to choose his departnt, but the rest of his teammates weren't. It was better to secure an advantage than be forced into an unfamiliar departnt. He already had sothing in mind as well.
“Tips? I don't have any. If I had to say sothing, then just don’t expect much.”
“Sorry?”
“Our custors can be a bit picky. So people end up crying and giving up altogether, but it’s all nonsense, so just grit your teeth and endure.”
People cry and give up?
These survivors had trampled on everything in their way to get this far. Eun-Ho wasn’t convinced, but he still waited for the man to continue.
The ntor gestured lazily with his chin toward the coffee table. “And... Oh, there’s a catalog on the table. Look at that if you’re bored.”
“A catalog?”
“Ah, I found it!” Jae-Hyuk pulled out a thin booklet.
Apparently losing interest, the ntor slumped back into his chair as he half-heartedly muttered, “Yeah, that one.”
The title on the cover read, Experience Content Catalog.
Puzzled, Jae-Hyuk repeated, “Experience content?”
“Rember the trial where we showed our mories?” Eun-Ho asked.
“Is it similar to the trial where we replayed our mory?”
Observing would an watching saved mories or live transmissions, but this was different. They weren't just observing this ti; they were reliving a mory.
“Experience fascinating mories firsthand? What is this supposed to an?” Jae-Hyuk asked.
It wasn't anything new to Eun-Ho. After all, he had sold experience tickets in one of the trials he had passed.
“Then this catalog must be—”
“Other people’s mories,” Eun-Ho finished.
The mories had likely been gathered from who knew where.
Jae-Hyuk turned to the first page of the catalog. One of the listed mories was related to a cosmic-level artist and the concert they had created.
[Solo Concert for One Million Fans(New!)]
- A performance no one watches just once. The final live concert of Sector 11’s strongest performance group, teor!
- Experience Cost: 30,000 Welfare Points
There were also so mories so bizarre that he couldn’t even guess what kind of custor would ever want them.
[District 7 Deep-Sea Expedition(New!)]
- From the Luminous Kraken to the Fish Dragon, study the universe’s most repulsive deep-sea species!
- Experience Cost: 20,000 Welfare Points
Finally, she found a full-page advertisent labeled “mory of the Month,” highlighting a horrifying mory that was on sale.
[mory of Murder(Best!)]
- When it rains, the day resurfaces. Ranked #1 in “mories People Want to Revisit.”
- Experience Cost: 100,000 Welfare Points
“This is insane.”
Eun-Ho had expected sothing sensational, but this surpassed anything he’d imagined. The fact that soone had packaged their real experiences like a movie and so many people wanted to relive them was even more shocking to him.
Ji-Eun frowned at the “mory of Murder” listing. “They sell this? Seriously?”
Completely unfazed, the ntor replied, “Hm? Well, yeah.”
Ji-Eun was just about to reply when a cheerful chi accompanied a new prompt.
Ding!
[Common trial has been activated!]
[Trial: Complete the OJT’s Special Orders.]
[Progress: 0/5]
[Reward: 3 Points.]
“OJT’s special orders?” Jae-Hyuk read.
“That’s odd,” Ji-Eun murmured. “It just says to complete it, but doesn’t explain what it is.”
“We probably have to et certain conditions to receive the orders,” Eun-Ho said.
While they all speculated, the ntor seed to have received his own trial and muttered to himself,
“Huh? Take them out? ?”
He slumped back in his chair, looking as though he'd rather die. “Tsk.”
Eun-Ho could feel his ntor’s annoyance from across the room.
Our special orders will probably be triggered once we go out and et custors.
They first had to figure out how to convince this slacker to actually move. If all else failed, they could force themselves out and just make him tell them where to go.
As Eun-Ho considered how to coax him, the ntor gestured lazily. “Hey. You with the narrow eyes. What ti is it?”
Guy with narrow eyes? Great.
“Yeah, you.”
“It’s ten o’clock,” Eun-Ho answered.
“Oh, then if we head out now... Okay!” He suddenly clapped his hands and sprang up from his chair. “All right, rookies. Follow .”
“Where are we going?” Eun-Ho asked.
“To et the custors, obviously.”
***
When he was younger, Eun-Ho assud that the saying "walking on clouds" ant feeling weightless, like floating through the air. Now, he concluded it ant walking down a path of hard, white stones.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
“Careful!”
“Phew. This is tiring, but the view is incredible!” Jae-Hyuk said.
“Right? A building on clouds... It's amazing. Isn’t it, Wei?” said Ji-Eun.
“Yes. It looks like heaven,” Wei whispered.
The Custor Satisfaction Center was located atop blindingly white clouds that reflected so much light it was almost dazzling.
“It looks like we’re above the company buildings on the map,” Eun-Ho said.
“I had no idea anything was up here,” Ji-Eun said.
“ neither, Noonim! There are also buildings and mountains beyond the clouds. What is this place?”
In the middle of the Sales Departnt stood a sharp mountain peak, so tall that he couldn't see the top no matter how far he craned his neck.
As the group marveled at their surroundings, the ntor smirked. “You all look like little chicks. How cute.”
He sounded oddly proud, as though he were their mother hen.
“This is actually my first ti receiving new hires. For so reason, no one ever sends rookies to .”
I think I know why, Eun-Ho thought.
“Where are we going exactly?” he asked.
“We’re going up, obviously.”
“You an up that mountain?”
“It’s not a mountain. It’s a tower.”
The incline looked steep enough to kill soone. Eun-Ho frowned subconsciously, and the ntor shrugged.
Soon, boulders shifted, filling the air with heavy grinding.
Rrrrmmm—
Thud!
[Welco to the Sky Tower!]
Fwoosh—!
A brilliant light flared, and what appeared like a mountain opened up.
***
Eun-Ho had sold many things over the years, including machine parts, dical devices, ho appliances, fruit, vegetables, and coffee.
Whether he had worn a company badge or bounced between part-ti gigs, the work had always been the sa. The product would change—sotis a physical item, sotis an intangible asset or a service—but the essence never did. He had to et custors and sell sothing. Rinse and repeat, more tis than he could count.
But it’s my first ti doing this kind of sales, Eun-Ho thought.
“So, the product we’re launching now—”
Thwack!
An elderly man smacked Jae-Hyuk’s forehead with his cane.
Jae-Hyuk let out a strangled scream. “Guh!”
Judging from the soft thump rather than a sharp crack, sothing definitely gave way.
“Why are there so many peddlers wandering around?!” the white-haired old man shouted as if nothing unusual had happened. “You’re here to rob again, aren’t you? You thieves! Get out of my sight!”
Jae-Hyuk tried again. “No, sir, we’re not peddl—”
Whack!
He was hit again with the cane. “Ghak!”
“Does having a hard head an you can just barge around?! Scram!”
Eun-Ho sighed. This was not going well.
Ji-Eun nervously asked, “At this rate, Jae-Hyuk's really going to get hurt, Eun-Ho. Should we stop him?”
“Yeah... He hasn’t even managed to greet the man yet...”
Jae-Hyuk had marched forward so confidently, claiming he was great with older custors, only to end up taking a beating. To make matters worse, they hadn’t even cleared step one: greeting.
[OJT’s Special Orders]
[1. Greet a custor: 0/20]
[2. Learn their hobby: 0/20]
[3. Get invited inside: 0/10]
[4. Beco friends: 0/10]
[5. Make a sale: 0/10]
Their ntor just laughed, thoroughly entertained. “Pfft! Look at him! What a sturdy skull. That geezer’s cane has knocked down everyone else it's hit!”
“Instead of laughing, could you help us? Don’t you have any tips?” Eun-Ho asked.
“Tips? Nah. You’ll never succeed anyway. Just give up and chill.”
“How long did it take you, then?” Eun-Ho pressed.
“? Hmm...” The ntor thought for a mont, then replied casually, “Half a year, maybe?”
Half a year?
“OJTs only last two days, though. What about your sales results? Did you skip the special orders and just focus on performance?” Eun-Ho asked.
“How would that work? My performance was also zero. Think about it. Even full-ti salespeople barely manage to fill their quotas. What makes you think two-day trainees can do it?”
The ntor was trying to say that the trial was impossible from the start. If that were true, Eun-Ho’s teammates would completely lose their placent benefits.
“What do we do, Eun-Ho? Should we all just go and politely explain our situation? If we tell the custors it’s for a trial, maybe they'll at least accept a greeting, ” Ji-Eun suggested.
“Ah, I’ve tried that. That doesn’t work.”
“Then maybe we can hand him the catalog and co back tomorrow? There might be sothing he wants.”
“Tried that too. Nope.”
The ntor shot down every idea Ji-Eun had offered.
“Why are you chicks so naïve? Let’s just write this off as a visit and wrap it up, yeah?”
“What about our trial?” Eun-Ho asked.
“Just give up. There’s no point wasting ti on an impossible task.”
Judging from his attitude, the ntor seed convinced that his only job was to escort them here. He seed ready to clock out the mont they gave up.
“I’ll give it a try,” Eun-Ho stepped forward.
The ntor frowned, clearly annoyed that Eun-Ho wasn’t listening to him. “Didn’t I already tell you it’s impossible? You don’t believe , do you?”
“If I succeed, what will you do?” Eun-Ho asked calmly.
“Tsk... Fine. If you finish the special orders, I’ll call you Hyungnim.”
Hmm. In that case, I’ll have to succeed.
Eun-Ho nodded. “I’ll be looking forward to that.”
“What the hell? Why is he so confident?”
Sales in Hell Joseon aren’t for anyone.
1. Gosiwon(Korean: 고시원) is a kind of single room occupancy class of building in South Korea. It was originally designed for students preparing to take exams. ☜
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