A manager’s job isn’t just about putting bells on cats.
“First-floor display team, gather up. I told you to sort the books that are running low and report them to the print room.”
If you’ve gotten benefits, you should take feedback too. I started pointing out the issues that ca up yesterday.
“Sorry. I forgot.”
“The press runs all day, which ans the small-batch prints scheduled for the morning need to be done quickly. Don’t let it happen again.”
“Yes, sir! I’ll keep that in mind!”
“I’ve prepared a recomnded reading list—read through it when you have ti. And print team, sa goes for you. Why didn’t you check why there was no report from the first floor yesterday? Didn’t I tell you to ask?”
“Apologies. I thought there were no low-stock titles, so I just followed your day’s plan directly.”
“I understand things are busy. Just try to be a little more thorough. I’m less worried since so of you already have printing experience, but you still need to be ticulous with inspections. If we’re short on materials, we have to place orders early—so report before we run out.”
“Yes, sir!”
“And you cleaning staff, don’t just stand there thinking it’s not your problem. Pick up trash right away, and keep straightening books throughout the day. Everyone makes mistakes, but we can reduce them by following procedure.”
“We’ll keep that in mind!”
Mistakes happen—it’s part of the job. But if soone’s willing to speak up and correct them, even if it’s unpleasant, that’s how you improve.
“I’ll be out checking on vendors today, so everyone focus on your tasks.”
Busy morning. After giving my reminders, I stepped out of Daseogak.
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“The type’s cracking way too often. Isn’t the alloy too soft?”
I’d dropped by one of our suppliers, the one that provides lead type for the printing press, to have a word about the latest batch.
“Well, of course it breaks when you run the machine nonstop! You think casting type is easy work?! If you don’t like it, go order sowhere else!”
“Funny you say that—other places are offering better prices.”
“What the—! You little—! I went out of my way to make those for you!”
“I’m counting on you.”
Daseogak’s print room can’t cast its own lead alloy type. We can’t be lting lead right next to all that paper and tea—imagine the sll.
Once I start making real money, I’ll need to set up a proper print shop.
After leaving the foundry, I stopped by another bookstore.
“You’re asking if we take print orders? We can, but how’s this price sound?”
The bookstore owner showed their in-house press and offered a per-copy rate.
“I know what the standard cost is. You’re really gonna hit with that?”
“Hey now! This is the going rate anywhere these days! But don’t you have your own press at Daseogak? Why’re you outsourcing? Don’t tell —Volu 3’s coming out?”
“It’s not that. Business is just going well lately.”
“If it is Storm of the Tang Clan, let sell it in my store. I’ll give you a good price per copy.”
Tempting, but outsourcing cuts too deeply into profits compared to producing books in-house with unpaid labor and our own press.
“I’ll be back another ti.”
I asked around at a few other stores just in case, but it was the sa everywhere.
In the end, I’ll just have to print as many copies of Volu 3 as possible before launch.
By the ti I finished checking vendors, the morning sun was already high in the sky.
Having employees has made things easier in so ways, but the pressure as a manager has only increased. It’s like my arms and legs multiplied, but my brain stayed the sa.
I don’t do as much physical labor anymore, but the number of things I have to worry about has doubled.
I need soone I can trust—soone reliable enough to handle real responsibility.
I need a manager.
That’s the problem when you’re a barbarian living in the Central Plains. No blood ties, no hotown connections, no alumni networks, no nepotism. I don’t have anything.
And because it involves money, it has to be soone trustworthy. Soone I can rely on, who’s competent, fast on their feet—soone who can even visit vendors in my place.
There’s soone I have in mind.
But I’m still debating the right ti to bring it up.
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“Manager! You ca for lunch?”
I’d stopped by the inn to settle the lunch bill for the staff when Ha So-so called out to .
“Miss Ha So-so. So it’s already lunchti, is it?”
“Hehe. If you’re here to eat, join us! Ha-yeon unni’s here too.”
She didn’t point, but finding Im Ha-yeon wasn’t hard.
A stunning beauty in a black Chinese dress? Not exactly subtle.
She must’ve noticed too. The mont our eyes t from across the tavern, she let out a huff and imdiately looked away.
If you’re going to pretend not to know , why were you staring? What a difficult woman.
It really would be great if Im Ha-yeon could take on a managent role.
There’s no connection more reliable than being sworn siblings. And lately, with how well I’ve been treating her, it feels like the distance between us is closing—or maybe widening again. I really can’t tell.
If I keep being good to her and we grow closer, I should be ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) able to entrust her with a leadership role eventually.
She wants sothing from Daseogak. I need sothing from her. If I give it ti, I think I can place her in a key position.
Of course, her obsessive love for Storm of the Tang Clan makes happy as the author... but as a bookstore owner, it’s a risk.
Im Ha-yeon... Please, just don’t cause any trouble.
“Manager?”
“Ah! I’ve got errands to run. Enjoy your al.”
“You could’ve stayed for the lunch set...”
It’s fine. I’m used to eating alone. If I get hungry later, I’ll just shoot a solo episode of The Lonely Gourt: Kang Yun-ho Edition.
Leaving Ha So-so’s disappointed voice behind, I stepped out of the inn.
*********
anwhile...
After turning her gaze away from Kang Yun-ho, Im Ha-yeon was deep in thought—tornted by the sa problem that had plagued her all day.
I want to read Volu 3 of Storm of the Tang Clan so badly.
She wanted it. Craved it. Needed to be the first reader to see it.
Why did that man have to tell her it was being printed? Why plant this tornt in her chest? She let out a soft sigh of frustration.
If only there were actual distance—like between Wusan and Yichang—maybe she could bear it.
But no, it was just one locked door away. One single door. Didn’t it feel like that door wanted her to open it?
Multiple tis a day, she found herself staring at that print room door, lost in turmoil.
I know every detail of Daseogak’s security.
Being a modern bookstore, Daseogak had excellent security. Other thieves wouldn’t even consider breaking in.
But she wasn’t just any thief.
In her mind, she mapped out Daseogak’s security and every weakness. Not that she ant to—but it’s hard to ignore what she’s trained to see.
And so, after much inner debate, she reached a quiet conclusion.
I could do it. Even from outside, she could infiltrate the store and reach the print room in no ti.
So then, she’d get to read it?
No. No, I have to hold back.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
If a break-in happened and Ho-pil found out... if he got hurt by it... He might actually quit writing. That thought alone was unbearable.
And then—
...That man trusts .
She rembered his face as he asked her for help.
He knew what she’d been trained in. Knew what she loved. And even so, instead of locking her out, he’d trusted her to report anything suspicious.
—No one dreams of climbing over another person’s wall.
—It’s one thing to know how, another to want to.
Kang Yun-ho... he believed in .
She’d said she didn’t want to be a thief. That she wasn’t like her master. And he had taken her at her word—had even gently held her wrists as he pleaded for her help.
And then, sothing strange and fluttery rose up in her chest.
Still... if I just snuck in at night and took a peek...
That warm, fluttery feeling fizzled out quickly under the weight of her internal crisis.
Maybe she could read it fast and leave... But this was Storm of the Tang Clan! You don’t just skim it. You savor every word, every scene. If she were going to read it properly, she’d need to do it in her own room.
And so, despite all efforts to suppress it, the temptation kept clawing at her.
“Unni?”
“Ugh... I want to read it so badly.”
Volu 3. The temptation was massive. So massive she wanted to ss up the perfect hairstyle she’d carefully done that morning.
“Unni?!”
“...Hm?”
Only when Ha So-so called out again, louder this ti, did she snap back to reality.
“Manager Kang said he’s not coming to eat.”
“I figured as much.”
“Funny, for soone who knew, you sure put your chopsticks down fast when you spotted him.”
Ha So-so glanced at the chopsticks Im Ha-yeon had nudged aside.
“I didn’t want to sit here watching soone else eat, okay?”
She pouted a little, pretending she’d done it without any thought.
“Unni, are you... maybe worried about sothing?”
I want to read Volu 3. The words nearly spilled out, but she swallowed them back.
“...It’s hard to talk about.”
Is it a sin to not open a door you can open?
Is it really theft to just... read a book?
No—she didn’t need to betray Ho-pil and that man’s trust.
Wait. No. That man doesn’t matter.
...No. He does. Her thoughts were spinning. It was chaos in her head.
“Sounds like it’s sothing I shouldn’t hear. Does it have to do with Manager Kang?”
Ha So-so narrowed her eyes and smiled, all too knowingly.
“Why’d you bring him up all of a sudden?”
It wasn’t accurate—but it hit too close. The question made her raise her voice in protest without aning to.
“Ah! So I was right. Hehe.”
“No, you weren’t!”
Why was she even smiling? Even while denying it, Ha-yeon couldn’t shake the sense that she'd just lost sothing.
“Then is it the kind of problem Manager Kang could help with?”
Would he understand if she told him?
No. That’s crazy. How do you even say, “I want to sneak into your print room and read the manuscript I swore not to touch”?
“No, it’s not.”
“If it’s Manager Kang, I bet he’d help. Why not tell him? I’m sure he’d listen to you.”
Ha So-so’s grin only widened.
“W-Why would I?”
“Hehe. Don’t you know? Seriously?”
“...Know what?”
What was this girl even talking about?
Im Ha-yeon leaned in, her curiosity reluctantly piqued.
“Manager Kang totally likes you, unni.”
“Wh-wh-wh-what?!”
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