Chapter 48
The story continues off the page
Floaties for Everyone
Swim lesson at the water park, and she's demonstrating on you
“We’d like to officially recruit you for Top Marriage, Mr. Kim Juseon.”
At Yoo Jihye’s words, I felt dazed by the contract she held out to me.
A competitor, yes—but in truth, an opponent that couldn’t even be compared to us.
If anything, the difference in scale between the companies made this less like competition and more like admiration.
And now, they were saying they wanted to officially recruit me from a place like that.
“Me? Or my company?”
“Is there any need to separate them?”
The smile at her lips was pure confidence. Confidence that I would never turn down this contract.
“What we want is for you to come alone, Mr. Juseon. We’d like to bring you straight in as a team leader at our Top Marriage headquarters.”
“…….”
“But if you’d prefer, we can establish a new corporation and guarantee your independent management. Of course, we’ll make sure you can keep all your current employees and continue your work as well.”
For a large corporation to acquire a small business outright, the costs are higher than you’d think, and there are all sorts of regulations concerning fair trade, market monopolies, and so on.
“So what you’re saying is… abandon Meracle, found a new company, and-”
“It would become a subsidiary of Top Marriage. It wouldn’t be any different from how things are now.”
Even the minimum salary I could glimpse through the translucent folder was several times what I was making now.
If negotiations started, I’d probably be able to get more than that.
If I hadn’t been gripping my knee, my hand would’ve trembled. The conditions were far better than I’d expected.
“It’s a hard decision, I’m sure.”
Yoo Jihye took another sip of tea and offered another concession.
“Then how about this? Why don’t you experience Top Marriage’s way firsthand and decide after that?”
“Experience it?”
“Yes, after all, the way we invited you was as a ‘member,’ wasn’t it?”
“…….”
“So think of yourself as having become a Top Marriage customer, experience it today, and then decide.”
“You’re very confident. You’d already prepared this kind of flow from the moment you invited me?”
“Because we think Mr. Juseon is that valuable a talent.”
If they were going this far, refusing outright would look absurdly petty.
Besides, opportunities to experience a conglomerate’s confidence firsthand were rare.
“All right. Since you’ve given me the chance, I’ll think it over.”
“Yes, please enjoy yourself. Just remember the contract will always be within arm’s reach.”
As I got up and reached for the doorknob to head out, she added one more thing.
“If you happen to find a match here, we won’t charge you a special matchmaking fee.”
“……But am I really allowed to be in the Noble grade?”
“Because we judged that you have that level of ability.”
They did seem to be a little biased in my favor, but if they were going to view me kindly, I wouldn’t refuse it.
When I returned to my seat, the table was already full.
The two people who had been making a racket at the entrance were also seated, and the purple-haired one was a Noble like me.
The proxy from the old martial world was, as expected, a Sovereign—the highest rank.
A moment later, a professional emcee came out, took the microphone, and greeted everyone.
“Good evening, everyone. I’m Kim Cheoljung, and I’ll be your host today.”
Light applause.
The emcee continued.
“What a gathering of handsome men and beautiful women this White Rose Banquet is. The event will run for roughly three to four hours. After the introductions, we’ll proceed with about ten minutes of one-on-one rotational conversation.”
The proceedings flowed smoothly.
It was simpler than I’d expected, and neat as well.
I’d been curious about how they ran things, and now I could pick up one more thing.
“All right, then we’ll start with self-introductions. First, Mr. Lex, please come up.”
Clap clap clap clap.
He stood up amid the obligatory burst of applause, and his grinning expression was rather crass.
Was there a reason he didn’t take off his sunglasses even indoors?
“Hello, I’m Lex from Cyber City. I’m twenty-five, and today’s party should be a lot of fun.”
Just seeing him lick his tongue like that was already enough to make my irritation rise.
It felt like he was deliberately putting on that kind of act, and at the same time, the participants’ trust in Top Marriage began to waver.
As the flow started to go awry, the emcee hurriedly jumped in.
“Ahem! Mr. Lex? What is your occupation?”
“Occupation? Ah… I’m a perspective designer, a neurocaster, and a synaptic influencer.”
“Huh? What does that even-”
“It’s a professional term, so it must be hard for you third-floor people to understand?”
Look at that?
He was subtly looking down on them, apparently thinking no one would catch it.
“Then just come down. You won’t understand even if I explain.”
A woman in glasses seated in the royal section cut in with a cold voice.
Every single person here is a high-tier member.
In Top Marriage, being high-tier wasn’t judged on looks or wealth alone; education was naturally a major factor too.
No one here would miss such a low-class jab.
“Ah, uh… yes.”
Lex came down awkwardly, flustered.
Only after returning to his seat did he hide his dazed expression and grind his teeth.
“That filthy pig of a third-floor bitch dares to-”
In a voice low enough that only I, sitting beside him, could hear it.
“So he’s a floorist.”
I had no idea where they’d dug up a guy like that, but my faith in Top Marriage cracked a little right then.
In fact, Lex’s behavior clearly hadn’t been accounted for, because the Top Marriage staff standing in a row behind him went ashen, not to mention
Yoo Jihye, who had been watching with her arms crossed, seemed to think she’d judged Lex wrong and quickly checked the paperwork.
“Yes, next is Mr. Kim Juseon, please come up.”
My turn came right away.
I stepped forward and took the microphone.
“Hello, I’m Kim Juseon. I’m twenty-eight, and I run a business.”
Smiling like a good guy was something I’d done so often for work that by now it was as easy as putting on a hat.
The emcee smiled brightly at the friendly atmosphere, so different from Lex’s moments ago, and asked,
“Well, well, is hiding your job trendy these days? Please tell us exactly what kind of business you run.”
“Ah, actually, I run a matchmaking agency.”
Gasps of surprise rose from all around.
I’d expected exactly this effect, so I’d deliberately kept it vague as a business to make them wait a bit.
“But after spending all my time arranging matches for other people, I found I never had the chance to find one for myself. And of course, I can’t exactly get involved with our own members.”
A small ripple of laughter ran through the crowd.
“So I came looking for a matchmaking agency. As someone in this industry, Top Marriage felt like the one with the highest customer satisfaction. It’s systematic and trustworthy.”
The Top Marriage staff standing at the back visibly brightened.
Not only that, Yoo Jihye also looked at me with surprised eyes, then smiled alluringly in satisfaction.
“You people owe me one.”
I’d put the atmosphere Lex had ruined back on track.
“Wow! I see! You’re clearly such a charming person, thoroughly separating business and personal matters as expected! Does anyone have any questions?”
I could catch a few women casting me faintly interested looks.
I wasn’t the only one; the emcee apparently didn’t miss it either.
“Is it thanks to Miss Kim’s styling?”
“Surprisingly, I’m actually getting through to them too?”
“Then what did you do before you ran a matchmaking agency?”
It was the question from the glasses-wearing woman who had spoken coldly to Lex earlier.
But this time she wore a gentle smile, so I must have made a decent first impression.
“I was an aspiring hunter at Hunter Training Center. Unfortunately, I was rejected.”
“Ah, that makes sense. You have a great build. Your proportions are nice too.”
At her words, I could feel the others sweeping their eyes over my body as well.
It was a little embarrassing, feeling as if I’d been stripped down and turned into a slab of butcher’s meat.
This time, a fit, athletic-looking woman raised her hand and asked,
“Which class were you in? I actually work as an instructor at Hunter Training Center. Did you perhaps train under me?”
An instructor meant she was a professional, after all?
Definitely, these weren’t ordinary people.
But it should be okay to say, right?
“Well, it’s nothing special.”
“It was the 111th class.”
“The 111th class? The golden batch? The Hunter Yoo Yena and Hunter Ryu Seoram?”
“Ah, yes. We saw each other from time to time.”
That set the crowd buzzing again.
Not only that, the Top Marriage staff and Yoo Jihye also looked surprised.
“No wonder. Then it makes sense you’d fail.”
“I heard that class was brutal.”
“My senior instructors said there were really a lot of talented people who got cut back then-”
“Wow, that’s such a shame.”
In fact, people were even talking among themselves and coming to the conclusion on their own that there had to be a reason I’d been rejected.
As things started to go better than expected,
Seo Hajin, the leader of the idol group Prizm sitting in the very front, murmured,
“So you know Seoram unnie.”
Seoram unnie?
She knows Ryu Seoram?
Anyway, I wrapped up my introduction and returned to my seat.
The introductions of the people who followed went on and on.
Every single one of them had credentials impressive enough to make you click your tongue.
Everyone else was looking at them as potential matches, but no matter how I looked at it, I could only see them through the eyes of a matchmaking agency owner.
“Ah, this one would be perfect if I paired them with someone from our side.”
As I naturally matched them in my head with the clients in the Meracle folder.
Top Marriage’s S-rank.
The Sovereign-rank member was introduced for the first time.
The man wore the old martial world’s immaculate ceremonial attire, his eyes narrowed so much that his pupils weren’t visible.
A faint sigh rose among the Top Marriage staff.
“Greetings. I’m So-and-so, here on behalf of Young Master Cheonjong as his close aide and proxy.”
“A proxy?”
The glasses-wearing woman interjected again.
But no one said anything. They were all just as displeased.
Not even attending in person, but sending a proxy.
No matter how old-fashioned the old martial world might be, this was going too far.
In this atmosphere, the emcee hurriedly stepped in.
“Young Master Cheonjong is the son of Lord Sangseoryeong of the imperial court.”
The atmosphere froze in an instant.
Only Lex slammed the table and asked,
“What’s a Sangseoryeong? Just how impressive could some family’s son be!”
“Ahem, you’d be wise to keep your mouth shut.”
Feeling awkward, I jabbed him in the side and whispered,
“In the imperial court of the old martial world, there are three institutions directly beneath the emperor.”
Zhongshu Ministry, Menxia Ministry, and Shangshu Ministry.
“The Zhongshu Ministry receives the emperor’s will and drafts edicts, decrees, and bills.”
“The Menxia Ministry reviews them; if there’s a problem, it can reject them and send them back up to the emperor.”
And finally, the Shangshu Ministry—.
“The place that actually carries out the finalized orders.”
The emperor’s hand that enforces the law.
“The Sangseoryeong is the supreme head of the Shangshu Ministry.”
The son of someone who could effectively be called the head of the executive branch.
Someone who shouldn’t be here.
An S-rank above S-rank.
Once they realized who he was, some people even felt a little relieved that it was only a proxy.
“Damn…….”
By contrast, I was impressed.
“Wait, they have the son of Sangseoryeong as a member?”
Top Marriage wasn’t called the best among the third-floor matchmaking agencies for nothing.