Chapter 39: New Member

The handover with Myung-hoon was going smoothly.

After all, the position of General Director was more about taking responsibility than dealing with difficult tasks.

The only issue was the sheer volume of materials to hand over.

With schedules planned out months, no, nearly a year in advance, the amount of paperwork was beyond imagination.

Even Myung-hoon's expression soured when he saw the pile of documents to be handed over.

"Wow... Ho-jin, you really shouldn't be calling Director Chae-young a workaholic or anything like that."

"Come on, it's not like that."

I instinctively denied Myung-hoon's comparison with Chae-young.

Even so, comparing me to Senior Chae-young was a bit...

This handover only seemed like a lot because we were doing a year's worth at once, not because I was doing too much work.

But despite my objection, Myung-hoon just looked at me with a pitying expression, without saying anything more.

I was a bit taken aback by Myung-hoon's attitude, but I didn't press the issue and focused on the handover.

There was no point in arguing further; Myung-hoon would have reacted the same way anyway.

"For the upcoming in-game updates, you can just sign off on the documents up to six months from now, which is April next year. I've already given them final approval, and they're just waiting for the go-ahead."

"No need to review them again?"

"No. I've already checked them at least twice. However, for anything after that, you'll need to review the drafts yourself and give feedback. If you're unsure about anything, just let me know. I'll help you out."

"Alright. Thanks."

"No need to thank me. Also, for collaborations, it's best to follow SFLAG's advice. And for the pop-up store planned for the first half of next year, make sure to personally check out the venue before it starts."

"Check the venue? In Japan?"

I nodded at Myung-hoon's question.

"Yes, in Japan."

At those words, Myung-hoon nodded as if he'd realized something and looked at me.

"No wonder you were going on overseas business trips so often."

"To be honest, we could leave it to the publisher, but given my personality, I just couldn't do that."

Myung-hoon nodded at my words and jotted them down in his notebook.

Seeing this attitude, I could understand why the CEO treated Myung-hoon like an ace.

Even after rising to a position that would be respected anywhere, his eagerness to learn was impressive.

"There are a few more things I'd like to tell you, but shall we call it a day?"

"Already?"

"I'd like to continue, but it's already past 4 o'clock."

"Really?"

Myung-hoon looked at the wall clock with a disbelieving expression.

The clock on the wall showed exactly 4:30 PM.

"We have plenty of time for the handover, so let's take it slow."

"Alright, good work today, Ho-jin."

"You too."

As I watched Myung-hoon gather the scattered handover documents from the table and leave, I thought to myself.

I wonder if we'll be done in about a week.

I had expected it to take about two weeks.

But with Myung-hoon keeping up so well, it looked like we might finish sooner than I thought.

*

It was the fifth day of handling General Director duties in the morning and working on the handover in the afternoon.

While in the middle of the handover with Myung-hoon, I received a phone call.

Checking the caller ID, I saw it was Su-yeon.

After excusing myself to Myung-hoon, I took the call in the hallway. Su-yeon's voice came through the smartphone.

[Ho-jin. Can you talk now?]

"Ah, yes. I can."

[I have something to discuss. Can you come up to the 7th floor now?]

"The 7th floor? Alright."

After ending the call and heading up to the 7th floor, I was greeted by an unfamiliar sight that differed from my memory.

In my recollection, the 7th floor had been mostly empty except for a few rooms used as storage.

But now, the 7th floor was bustling with workers and what looked like management support team employees hard at work.

What's going on here?

As I wandered around looking for Su-yeon, acknowledging greetings from workers and employees,

I finally spotted her watching some workers in the middle of putting up partition walls.

Wavy black hair reaching her waist,

A small stature complemented by a casual outfit of a blouse and skirt,

Even a candy in her mouth.

If it weren't for the employee ID hanging around her neck, one might easily mistake her for a student,

But I wasn't tactless enough to say that out loud.

Su-yeon seemed to spot me too, waving her hand and calling out.

"Ho-jin. Over here!"

As I approached her call, Su-yeon smiled and pulled out a lollipop.

"Want one?"

"Ah, yes."

I unwrapped the strawberry-flavored lollipop Su-yeon handed me and popped it in my mouth.

The sweet taste of strawberry spread through my mouth.

Su-yeon watched me with a pleased smile and spoke.

"This 7th floor under construction will be the new GM Headquarters and studio offices."

"...Isn't it too spacious?"

The existing mobile game development team's 6th floor wasn't that large, with various facilities like Chae-young's recording studio and break rooms taking up space.

But this 7th floor under construction, with partition walls being erected, seemed to be at least twice the size of the existing team office, if not more, with no other facilities in sight.

"Isn't that better? We'll keep creating new studios in the future, and this way we can easily set up a few partition walls without needing to move to different floors."

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"Right?"

Su-yeon grinned.

Somehow, Su-yeon seemed to be in high spirits today.

"Did something good happen today?"

"Oh? Is it that obvious?"

"Not too much, just a little."

At my response, Su-yeon cleared her throat and began to speak.

"I got a call from my father today. One of the executives who's his right-hand man must have told him about the board meeting."

"To be honest, when I got the call, I thought I was in for another lecture. Something like 'Why are you doing things your way again?'"

"But it wasn't like that. He just said in his gruff voice, 'You're doing well. Keep it up,' and hung up."

I chose to remain silent in response to Su-yeon's words.

Su-yeon didn't seem to expect an answer either and continued.

"Anyway, I'm really grateful to you, Ho-jin. From start to finish. Without you, we wouldn't have achieved these results."

"I was just doing my job diligently."

"There are plenty of diligent people in our company. How many people do you think aren't diligent in their work?"

"......"

"Anyway, that's how it is. From now on, do whatever you want to do, Ho-jin. I'll support you as much as I can from behind the scenes."

I smiled at Su-yeon's words and bowed my head slightly.

"I'll continue to work hard."

I could feel the workers glancing our way, but neither Su-yeon nor I paid any attention to it.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot to ask you this."

"Yes?"

"Ho-jin, are you free tomorrow afternoon?"

"What time...?"

"Around 2 PM. It should take about an hour."

"Ah, yes. That shouldn't be a problem. But why...?"

"We have an interview scheduled for tomorrow. The one you've been hoping for."

"Hoping for?"

"A senior-level developer."

*

The next day at 2 PM.

I was currently waiting with Su-yeon in the first-floor conference room, which was serving as the interview location.

Yu-mi, who had come with us, had set up refreshments and left to guide the interviewee.

Su-yeon, sitting next to me, was on a call, presumably for work, so all I could do was read the resume of the interviewee in front of me.

Let's see...

Age 29, male.

Quite young for senior-level standards.

At this age, he probably didn't appeal based on experience, but looking at the special notes at the bottom of the resume, it seems he performed quite impressively on the coding test.

After skimming through this resume, one thought crossed my mind.

Why would someone with such outstanding practical skills apply to our company...?

Of course, I'm not disparaging or putting down our company.

It's just that, objectively speaking, Enson GT isn't the kind of company that would typically attract senior-level developers.

A prime example is that someone of this caliber could easily go to our parent company, Enson Korea, rather than us.

As I was tilting my head, unable to understand no matter how much I thought about it,

Su-yeon, who had finished her call at some point, looked at me with a smile and said,

"You're having trouble understanding the contents of the resume too, right?"

"Ah, yes. I suppose so."

"But it's not a bad thing, is it? With skills like these."

"Looking at the skills alone, it's more than we could ask for. The question is why someone like this applied here."

"What does it matter? We can find out during the interview. That's why we set it up, right?"

"I guess you're right."

As if the timing was perfect, just as our conversation ended, there was a knock on the conference room door, and Yu-mi entered.

"Mr. Lee Tae-sun, the interviewee, has arrived. Should I show him in now?"

"Go ahead."

After saying that, I glanced to the side and saw Su-yeon nodding with a smile.

Yu-mi, after briefly observing Su-yeon and me, left the conference room. Shortly after, the interviewee entered.

"Hello. I'm Lee Tae-sun, who applied to Enson GT. Thank you very much for this opportunity."