Surviving Restructuring

[The Crow from the Bureau of Management spreads their arms wide, welcoming you back, old friend.]

“It’s been a while,” Eun-Ho said.

[The Crow from the Bureau of Management gets teary-eyed, saying it’s been far too lonely without you.]

[A donation of 2,000 Welfare Points has been made!]

Tears felt a bit dramatic, but that was fine.

[The Prince from the Bureau of Investigation laughs, saying they are glad to see you again.]

[A donation of 1,000 Welfare Points has been made!]

Greetings, cheers, and donations poured in.

“We’re already at nine thousand points!” Ji-Eun shouted.

“This is insane, Hyungnim!” Jae-Hyuk exclaimed.

[The Newbie from the Bureau of Corporate Relations scolds you for showing up so late!]

[A donation of 1,000 Welfare Points has been made!]

“Ten thousand! We hit it!” Eun-Ho shouted.

Ji-Eun shared the excitement and shouted, “Wow! Done in one go!”

In all his years, he couldn’t remember ever being welcomed this enthusiastically. At work, the only time anyone greeted him warmly was when they wanted to ask a favor.

[The Catty Cat from the Bureau of Investigation complains that they can’t see your face.]

[The Old Guy from the Sales Department says they enjoyed the interview with sparkling eyes.]

[The Crow from the Bureau of Management smugly says it’s fine to mention you in the next interview.]

Such a pure, wholehearted welcome only after the world went insane is crazy. Does that mean I’m just as abnormal?

The thought was oddly bittersweet for Eun-Ho.

[OJT trial has been completed with success!]

[You have earned 2 Points and 2,000 Welfare Points.]

They managed ten thousand points somehow, collecting it faster than anyone else.

“No way. He finished already?” Harona muttered.

“Has this ever happened before, Lady Harona?” Seung asked.

“I don’t know! This is my first time too!”

Judging by the two administrators’ horrified faces, this was a record with no precedent. The chef had played a part, but the “Employee of the Year” title had done most of the heavy lifting.

This title is more useful than I thought.

He had expected it to help but not this much. Without it, reaching ten thousand would have taken far longer.

“You’re amazing, Eun-Ho! You’re basically an influencer now!” Ji-Eun shouted.

“He’s a total celebrity!” Jae-Hyuk added.

“Haha, nah. It’s just temporary,” Eun-Ho replied.

[Congratulations!]

[You have set a new fastest-clear record for the OJT Management Performance Trial.]

[You have received an additional 3,000 Welfare Points!]

There came another bonus reward.

[The actual number of survivors has increased significantly compared to simulation.]

[Additional trait-exclusive rewards have been awarded due to your trait, Rebel.]

[Resistance stat has been increased (+108).]

He received a unique reward for the Rebel trait, plus a big boost to his Resistance stat.

“Everyone, thank you for your hard wor—”

Fwoosh—!

He was just about to wrap up the trial when a new window burst into view, white and blue light cascading down.

One window gleamed bright gold around the edges, drawing all attention. There was another notification of divine attention.

[You have produced results that defy the Greater Cause!]

[The Nameless Goddess takes interest in the antics of the keeper of the Scales.]

Then, a series of messages followed immediately.

[The parameters required for skill activation are being accumulated.]

[Your strong rebellious spirit accelerates data accumulation. ...24%, 25%.]

Wait. What?

Results that defy the Greater Cause, meaning established order, and mad act by the keeper of the Scales, as well as accumulation rate accelerated by rebellious... They all point to one thing, Eun-Ho thought.

The system was preparing to unlock a Rebel-trait exclusive skill for him.

First came Counterattack, then Order Opposer. What would the next one be?

He had no clue what would come next. For now, he decided to wait and see.

Harona frowned, her thin brows knitting together. “What are you, really?”

“Of course I’m a trainee getting his required education,” he replied.

“Be honest. Is this your second life or something?”

“If it were, do you think I’d be struggling like this?”

Harona shook her head with a tired, half-awed expression. Then she clicked her tongue, oddly regretful. “What a waste. Had you shown your face, you would have gotten double the donations.”

Ah. So that’s what this was about.

One observer had also complained about this earlier.

[The Catty Cat from the Bureau of Investigation complains that they can’t see your face.]

However, he was an administrator right now, not one of the front-line subjects. The Eye naturally focused on temporary contract workers, not him. It was unfortunate yet unavoidable.

He shrugged inwardly and asked, “So. What’s next?”

“Hmm?”

“The next trial.”

He had to demonstrate what an administrator could really do, especially for the observers who followed him all the way here.

“You want to do another one?”

Honestly, he was curious about the new skill the system was charging up. “This area’s done. Ah, there too.”

“Huh? Don’t tell me you’re serious about this,” Harona said.

Eun-Ho wanted to row when the tide was high. “I’ll do them all at once. Where else is ending right now?”

Trial grinding was only just beginning.

***

Faith often ran deep among sailors, perhaps because they constantly faced storms beyond human control.

“Dear God, Buddha, Mountain Spirit, anyone! Please!”

Out in the open sea with nothing but a sail, they felt like a speck of dust that a single wave could wipe away. In those moments, they prayed for the raging sea to calm, and for a safe path home.

“Shut it! Why’re you calling for gods who don’t even look your way?”

Of course, that was back when they actually had a home to return to.

“Damn it! We should’ve never come out to sea...”

“It’s too late for that! Those green circles were all over the water!”

They should have realized the moment the Safe Zone appeared offshore.

The trial had begun at nine o’clock. One circle appeared ten kilometers inland, the other in the water off Haeundae.

Naturally, the sailors chose the sea. Then, at ten o’clock, they assumed the next Safe Zones would return them to land. However, they were wrong.

Two new zones appeared even farther out. One was closer, but floating in the middle of nowhere. The other was farther, but had a small island where they could rest. After swimming for their lives, they found themselves stranded here.

“Who said it was an island?!”

“There’s no point of arguing now”

“Was it you?!”

“Quit fighting! We’ll sink the damn boat!”

What they thought was an island was just a rotten ship hull.

“Whether we stay or go back, we’ll still die anyway!”

They were completely exhausted.

[Defeat the Man-Eating Piranha!]

[Defeat the Man-Eating Piranha!]

[Defeat the Man-Eating Piranha!]

...

Besides, the red swarm that had gathered in the distance was drifting closer and closer. It was a mass of piranhas that could swallow helpless humans whole.

[Attention, temporary contract workers in the ROK District.]

[The next trial will begin shortly at 11:00 AM.]

“Eleven o’clock? So then how long do we have to hold out?” someone asked.

“Damn it, it’s only ten twenty.”

“So we have forty minutes left.”

They were stranded in the middle of the ocean, practically the open sea. More than thirty survivors clung desperately to the overturned, half-rotted dinghy.

“Hey! Quit it!”

“What?!”

“Breathe quieter! You’re making the boat heavier!”

Even breathing felt dangerous; the dinghy was slowly sinking under their combined weight.

“Forget that. Aren’t you supposed to be a technician? Steer the damn thing!” someone with dripping wet hair yelled as he scratched his scalp.

“Right! If he can steer it, we won’t have to meet those piranha things!”

“That’s right! Didn’t you pilot that huge ship last time?!”

The man who had been praying shook his head. “It wasn’t driving. It was piloting.”

“Same thing!”

He really had piloted the ship at Moonlit Nap, the massive ship that was almost their training-center dormitory. However, that was only possible when the ship was actually functional.

“But this isn’t a ship. It’s a chunk of ship debris.”

Steering an overturned wreck back to land was impossible. Even a master navigator’s grandfather who rose from the dead couldn’t do it.

“Damn it.”

People answered only with deep sighs. Talking wasted too much strength. They had spent hours swimming already, their legs were stiff and cramping.

Exhaustion had pushed everyone close to their limit, and tempers sharpened by the minute. If a strong wave hit them and they lost their grip, if their hands slipped from the dinghy, or if they nodded off even for a second—that would be it. They would be swallowed whole by the dark water below. The thought alone kept everyone wide awake, glancing anxiously at the ocean.

“Huff... Move over a little!” A woman arrived late, splashing violently as she swam up and grabbed the side of the dinghy. “J-just let me lie down. My leg’s cramping.”

She tried to climb onto the overturned dinghy, or at least squeeze herself between the others to get a foothold. However, the survivors shut her out with ferocity, unwilling to allow even one more competitor for space.

“H-hey! Hey!”

“What the hell are you doing?! It’s gonna sink!”

A large, burly man swung his thick arm like a baseball bat. “Damn it! Get lost!”

“P-please help me. Kyaaah!”

Thud—

The woman was knocked away, slipping off before she could secure even a single handhold.

“Khaaa—!” She fell back into the sea, her scream drowned under spray and splashing water. Her outstretched hand grasped only empty air. “Just give me a little spa—glrk—!”

The waves bobbed her head up and down like a buoy, but she never got close again.

“What are you looking at? You wanna sink this whole thing and die together?” asked the burly man.

The sailors, men who always bragged about loyalty being everything, said nothing. They were quieter than the breaking waves.

Swoosh—

Just then, the navigator reached out his arm, calmly saying, “Hold still. Just grab on. Don’t move.”

The woman’s hand smacked into his and latched on desperately. “Keugh... T-thank you!”

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!”

“This much is fine,” the navigator said, cutting off the furious glares aimed his way. “It stopped sinking a while ago.”

The survivors clicked their tongues, displeased. “Tsk.”

The ocean heaved beneath them, like the aftermath of a large wave.

“Y’all hear that?” someone muttered.

At the same moment, a sharp-eared man’s face turned rigid.

Kiyaaaak!

A black shape tore across the sky.

“What is that?”

“Is that a bomb?!”

A long, horizontal blur was hurling straight at them, moving fast enough to split the air. Then came the horrifying notification.

[Defeat the Rowdy Seagull.]

[Defeat the Rowdy Seagull.]

[Defeat the Rowdy Seagull.]

...

“You gotta be kidding me.”

Whether it was a Busan seagull or a rowdy one, it didn’t matter. In their condition, they could neither run nor fight. Fear crawled up everyone’s spines, turning their toes numb as the flock closed in.

[You have a new message.]

Then, a translucent window floated above the blue sea.

“A message?” the navigator murmured.

Then a single line arrived, almost like a reply.

- From: Lee Eun-Ho

- Message: Dive under the boat.

- Message: Just hold out for ten minutes.

Let go of the boat and dive? For ten whole minutes? Hmm... Lee Eun-Ho is the new-employee representative...

Why was someone who’d already become a permanent full-time employee saying something like this? Besides, how did he know they were clinging to a boat?

Is he watching us?

The navigator’s mouth opened and closed mutely in panic.

Another message arrived, almost as if anticipating his confusion.

- From: Lee Eun-Ho

- Message: I’ve sent a rescue team.

The navigator’s breath hitched.

A woman beside him immediately noticed. “What is it?!”

“H-he says a rescue team is coming!” he said.

Everyone snapped their heads toward him. However, the situation was so dire that hope did not come easily. Their anxious faces only grew heavier with doubt.

“What the hell? Everyone’s dead out here. How’s a rescue team gonna show up now?”

The navigator’s words weren’t enough to inspire trust.

Kiyaaaak!

Kieeeek!

The seagulls were closing in too quickly for explanations.

“Shit! Why’re those things so damn fast?!”

“We’ll have to deal with those first!”

“Get under the boat!” the navigator shouted.

“Are you insane?! You want us to suffocate?!”

“He said we only need to last ten minutes!”

“And why the hell should we believe that?!”

The navigator was a technician, not a smooth-talking salesman. As they argued and precious seconds slipped away, he thumped his own chest in frustration.

Ding!

Then, another alert rang out.

[Entrepreneur Lee Eun-Ho requests to register you as a Sub-Sales Agent.]

[Do you accept?]

He had no idea what was going on, so he answered hesitantly, still confused, “Accept...?”

The woman hanging onto his arm asked, “Why ten minutes? Do you know something?”

“No. But the new-employee representative sent a message,” he replied.

“What?”

“He said he sent a rescue team.”

Of course she didn’t believe it. He barely believed it himself.

Ding!

He was just shaking his head when another message appeared.

[The effect of the Multi-Level Marketer title has been shared.]

[Your voice gains increased credibility.]

Then suddenly, everyone’s ears snapped open.

“The new-employee rep?!”

“That scary-looking guy said what?!”

“Well... If we get under the boat, the seagulls can’t peck us, I guess.”

“So the rescue team will show up in ten minutes?”

“I’m going first!”

“Me too!”

Splash!

One after another, people dove in, racing to claim whatever pocket of air existed beneath the overturned hull.

“W-we should go too!”

“You’re just believing him like that?” the navigator asked.

“Of course! He saved my life...!”

Something’s off, the navigator thought.

However, with no time to dwell on it, he slipped beneath the water as well.

With sixty seconds remaining, the world fell silent. Only the faint shafts of light filtering down from above remained, the only rope tying them to the surface.

Thirty seconds left. People blinked through the water, mouths shut tight. A few already began bobbing up and down instinctively, trying to sneak a breath only to panic and duck back down before the seagulls could strike.

The water around them surged violently just as only ten seconds remained.

Swlp—

For a split second, he wondered if some god was shaking a basin full of seawater. He almost missed it because he was lost in that thought.

Duuung—

A low, resonant horn sounded somewhere in the depths. The thin veil of light vanished, and in its place came a massive net.

Fwooosh—!

“Aaaaaah!”

“H-help! Someone help!”

“Cut it! Cut the net! Does anyone have a knife?!”

A huge trawling net rose from below, scooping up the overturned boat and everyone clinging underneath it. Blinded by the sudden sunlight, they flailed until they knew those voices.

“Stay still!”

“Don’t move or you’ll tear the net!”

These were the survivors who had chosen the ten-kilometer-away Safe Zone during the first trials. What were they doing here? Shouldn’t they still be working on their own trial?

“Our trial is to catch monsters!” one of them shouted.

“Sorry?”

“We caught thirty already! Our trial should be complete!”

More than thirty bewildered drifters were hauled onto a fishing boat.

Its captain let out a booming laugh at the sight of them. “That new-employee rep is one smart lad!”

He showered praise on someone who wasn’t even present.

No way...

It finally clicked. For those stranded at sea, Eun-Ho’d given them a boat. For the fishermen, he had given them people to catch in the net. Clearly, Eun-Ho solved two trials at once.

The navigator spoke up, “Sir, did you come because of someone named Lee Eun-Ho?”

“Aye. He sent some kind of message, I dunno.”

“What did it say?”

“Wait a bit. We’re not done yet.”

“Sorry?”

The captain barely listened as he moved quickly across the deck. “We gotta deal with these noisy things first.”

Beeeeep!

“Ugh!”

A piercing sonar blast rattled their skulls.

The seagulls reeled in confusion, thrown off by the radar-like pulse. “Kieeeek?”

“Hah! It worked! How’d that kid know something like this?!”

The navigator wanted to ask the same question. What was he? What kind of person could predict, arrange, and guide all of this?

Is Lee Eun-Ho a god...?

Hope that long lost and forgotten returned to the navigator’s eyes akin to a ray of light.