Chapter 282. City of the Abandoned (2)

“Good work, everyone!”

“Thank you for your hard work, Chairman!”

With that, the report came to an end, accompanied by the employees’ strangely bright, almost sparkling expressions.

As the room settled, Ji-Eun approached Eun-Ho with a gentle smile. “You’ve worked hard, Eun-Ho. I am sure you are tired.”

“Not really,” Eun-Ho replied lightly. “I actually had a good meal before coming back.”

It was true. Eun-Ho had even made sure to eat all the energy-boosting snacks the shareholders had been carefully saving. Thanks to that, he didn’t feel particularly tired at all.

However, it seemed Ji-Eun hadn’t brought it up for that reason.

She let out an awkward laugh and stepped a little closer. “You look like you’ve been through quite a lot... judging by your appearance.”

Eun-Ho blinked. “Pardon?”

“Hold on a second.” Already tall, Ji-Eun was wearing heels that made her nearly level with him. She even rose onto her tiptoes as she reached up with both hands. Then, her face came far too close. “The chairman shouldn’t be walking around like this.”

Eun-Ho was about to ask what she meant when she began smoothing down his hair. It had been left in complete disarray after being battered by wind and snow, stiff and tangled. She carefully combed through it with her fingers, tidying it back into place.

“It’s kind of cute, though,” she murmured.

He narrowed his eyes. “What did you just say?”

“I said your ears are nice,” she replied smoothly.

“Huh?”

A moment later, she stepped back, smiling brightly. “There.”

Her expression was so innocent that Eun-Ho couldn’t help but let out a soft, incredulous laugh. “Ji-Eun, you’ve gotten bold.”

“I think I learned it from you,” she shot back.

Come to think of it, it had been a while since Ji-Eun had tied her hair up.

He still remembered when it had been cut short, layered just below her ears. Now, it had grown past her shoulders, allowing her to tie it back with ease.

This brings back memories...

As he looked at her neatly tied hair, he found himself reminiscing about how much both of them had changed.

“It looks like everything went well,” Ji-Eun said.

“It did,” Eun-Ho replied.

It had gone very well because Eun-Ho had brought back everything he could, leaving nothing behind. Not only had his authority as acting chairman been fully restored, the projected results had surpassed even the system’s absurd targets.

[Congratulations!]

[Your sales performance has significantly improved.]

[Mid-to-long-term trial Annual Sales Growth Rate of 20% is expected to be exceeded.]

[Congratulations!]

[Multiple projects have been successfully launched.]

[The Dawn of a New Era trial has been successful.]

[You have earned 100,000 Welfare Points and 1,000 Team Benefit Points.]

Eun-Ho had cleared major trials as well.

[Achievement Recognized for Both Skill and Leadership unlocked!]

Recognized for both skill and leadership? Is that really something rare enough to count as an achievement? Oh well...

Now that Eun-Ho thought about it, he couldn’t recall ever seeing such a leader, especially in this company.On top of that, he had gained a rather grand title, True Leader.

[You have acquired the title True Leader.]

[Due to the effect of the title, subordinates’ loyalty will increase more easily.]

[When issuing direct training orders, growth speed will increase.]

[The reputation of True Leader Lee Eun-Ho will spread widely.]

“I thought people might complain about the workload I’ve been assigning,” Eun-Ho muttered.

“Pardon?” Ji-Eun tilted her head.

He shook his head. “Ah, it’s nothing.”

Either way, he was grateful. Even though he was a young chairman who had appeared out of nowhere like a rolling stone and dumped a mountain of work on them, they still acknowledged him.

“Check benefits,” he said quietly.

[Accumulated Benefit Points - 19,800.]

That was quite a lot. Eun-Ho himself had only managed to accumulate around five thousand points, which meant most of it had been left unused by the previous chairman.

I’ll make good use of this.

With that thought, Eun-Ho opened the system window. A blue interface flickered into view before his eyes.

[You have been connected to the Benefit Shop.]

[Please select a category.]

? Sector Management

? Staff Management

? Department Management

? System Management (Locked)

...

Eun-Ho decided to start with Sector Management.

▼ Sector Management

└ Sector Development

└ Sector Acquisition

└ Sector Sale

...

It looked similar to when he had upgraded the office, back when it was still jokingly referred to as the Wailing Forest.

Dormitory construction, land reclamation, amusement park development and resort development?

Of course, the scale was completely different. He wasn’t decorating a tiny studio apartment anymore. He was practically running a country.

And what’s this? Artificial island construction? So it could even create land?

The company system was starting to feel like some kind of tycoon simulation game.

Then again, Eun-Ho had wondered why there was never enough office space in the company. After taking a closer look, he finally understood.

[Artificial Island Construction]

- Need more buildings? Want to expand your office? Oh, you don’t have land? One artificial island solves everything.

- There’s no need to look far! Just build one near your existing business district.

- Cost: 1,000,000 Benefit Points

One million points?! Well, I guess creating an island wouldn’t exactly be cheap. Let’s skip that for now.

Next, Eun-Ho opened Staff Management.

▼ Staff Management

└ Training & Development

└ Rewards & Penalties

└ Compensation & Bonuses

...

└ Personnel Orders (Locked)

└ Promotion (Locked)

Training & Development looked familiar. Back when Eun-Ho had been a team leader, he had sent his team members to training programs to improve their skills.

No wait.

[Select the employees you wish to assign training to.]

[Multiple selections and overlapping orders are available.]

[Loading available training programs.]

▼ Work Skills

└ The Secret to Leaving Work on Time

└ The Art of Reporting

└ Eco Leadership

...

? Combat

? Combat Support

? Special Abilities

? Promotion Training

? General Education

? Common Skills(All Ranks)

? Warrior Common

...

The list went on and on, seemingly endless.

This is insane.

Eun-Ho remembered how much his team members had improved after their last round of training. That had only been at the team leader level. Now, not only was the scale larger, the variety of available training programs had expanded dramatically.

[Breathing Techniques & Martial Arts(New!)]

- The latest installment in the “I Almost Fought Without Knowing This" series.

- Learn optimized breathing techniques to enhance physical vitality, along with martial arts.

- Reward: Breathing Technique(Lv. 1) and Martial Arts(Lv. 1)

- Requirement: Manager level or higher

The better the training program, the higher the rank requirement. However, that wasn’t a problem.

If needed, I can just promote them.

The position of chairman truly held absolute authority.

I already knew that, but seeing it laid out like this is something else.

Department Management offered a range of options as well, creating new departments, approving them, and evaluating performance.

However, one thing had been bothering him for a while now.

? System Management(Locked)

Locked?

It was clearly a function meant for the chairman, yet it remained inaccessible to him.

“System Management,” Eun-Ho said aloud.

[You have no access.]

“Personnel Orders.”

[You have no access.]

“Promotion.”

[You have no access.]

The answer was obvious: he was only the acting chairman.

“I guess I’ll have to move things along faster,” Eun-Ho muttered to himself.

Ji-Eun tilted her head slightly at his words. “Where are you going?”

“A business trip.”

“Ah, the one you mentioned earlier.” Ji-Eun nodded to herself before looking at him in puzzlement. “But a business trip? Why so suddenly?”

Eun-Ho explained everything step by step. “Well...”

He had already dealt with the shareholders—cleaned them up, so to speak—but they still retained their shares.

I can’t afford to leave loose ends.

There was always the risk of a future uprising. On top of that, he still had to secure the former chairman’s shares as well.

“But you didn’t find the certificate,” Ji-Eun pointed out.

“I have a good idea where it might be.”

Her eyes widened. “Where?”

“The arena.”

The City of the Abandoned was where the arena they had discovered was located.

“When are you leaving?” she asked.

“At first light.”

To be honest, Eun-Ho had intended to leave right away. However, he couldn’t skip the meeting, so that was why he had stopped by first.

As he finished explaining, Ji-Eun furrowed her brow in thought for a moment, then quickly jotted something down in her notebook.

“If I send the purchase list to General Affairs right away, and the written report gets reviewed by the secretary’s office as a backup...” she muttered under her breath.

It seemed she was organizing her to-do list. Did she assume she was going along? Well, he might as well ask.

“Yummy! Uncle, you’re the best!” Yul chirped nearby.

Eun-Ho turned his head. Yul was happily dipping snacks into chocolate and eating them with gusto.

Then, she held one out. “Snacky! Aaah.”

“Nom... What’s snacky?“ the Crow squawked indignantly.

“I’ll give you one more! Say aah.”

“Aack! Don’t spill it! If you spill it, I won’t forgive you!” the Crow protested.

More precisely, Eun-Ho’s gaze shifted to the bird nestled in Yul’s arms, busily accepting snacks.

“Yul,” Eun-Ho called.

“Yes!” Yul answered brightly.

“Can I borrow your Crow friend for a moment?”

“Friend! Frieeend!” the Crow cawed loudly as Eun-Ho gently lifted it out of Yul’s arms. The creature sniffled immediately, complaining about its once-glossy feathers now being sticky, and flapped its wings in protest. “At last, freedom! Then I shall go preen my feathers—”

“Stop.”

Its wings froze mid-flap.

“Where do you think you’re going? We’re just getting started,” Eun-Ho said calmly.

“My friend... I don’t seem to have much strength left,” the Crow said weakly.

“You seemed to enjoy those energy-recovery snacks just fine. Your Stamina should be almost fully restored,” Eun-Ho replied.

The Crow snapped its beak shut.

“We should head to the arena, right?” Eun-Ho said.

“To think I must return to that hell...”

Eun-Ho narrowed his eyes slightly and thought, You can’t be tired already?

“We’ll need to take some team members with us,” he added.

“What?!” the Crow squawked.

“Relax. I’m not asking you to carry everyone.” Eun-Ho stroked it from the top of its head down to its neck. “How many can you handle?”

Earlier, the Crow had said that carrying Eun-Ho and Yul was about the limit for effortless flight.

“Hmph! A true gentleman such as myself could manage a few novices without issue,” the Crow said proudly.

Of course, it could carry more if it pushed itself. However, that would slow it down significantly and drain its Stamina much faster, greatly reducing mobility.

“It’s a one-day trip with no rest,” Eun-Ho said. “We’re going straight there.”

“What?! No rest at all?!” the Crow cried.

“So give me a realistic number.”

“Three! No more than three!” the Crow declared.

Three was better than going alone, but still not many. There was no telling what dangers lurked in the arena.

“Whether it was the chairman or the Personnel Bureau Director, they must have had a way to get in and out of the arena,” Eun-Ho said. “Any ideas?”

The Crow tilted its round head, bobbing slightly as if dozing off in thought. “Hmm...”

“The Investigation Bureau has portable capsules. Could there be preset coordinates for that location?”

“There are preloaded portal coordinates. But if you use those, everyone in the arena will know you’ve arrived.”

Therefore, it came down to two options. Eun-Ho could enter quietly with a small group or storm the arena with a full force.

If we make a big entrance and someone moves the share certificate, that’s a problem.

“Ji-Eun,” Eun-Ho called.

“Yes, Eun-Ho?”

“Could you gather the team members?”

***

“Mister!”

Eun-Ho turned his head. “Oh, you’re here?”

“Goodness! What is this place? It’s so dim I can barely see anything,” the cleaning lady muttered.

They were in an unusual room with a massive leather sofa that could seat more than ten people. An antique carpet woven with intricate Persian patterns spread on the floor. Empty picture frames covered the walls.

“Is this the Personnel Bureau Director’s secret space?” someone asked.

“That’s right,” Eun-Ho answered.

They had gathered in the hidden room that Eun-Ho had unlocked after dealing with Seung Gi, the former Personnel Bureau director.

Yeo-Jin tilted her head. “But why are we meeting here?”

“I’m picking who’s coming with me on a business trip,” Eun-Ho replied.

“Huh? Where are you going?” she asked, confused.

Eun-Ho paused briefly. He didn’t have much of a choice because this wasn’t exactly an ordinary destination.

“The arena.”

Fwooosh—!

The empty frames suddenly lit up all at once. Each one displayed a scene like television screens, or perhaps windows into another world. It was a place where life and death hung in the balance.

“That’s where I’m going,” Eun-Ho said quietly.

Inside the frames, a frail old man lay sprawled across the dirt, drenched in blood. A monstrous creature tore into his lower half, chewing through his leg as if it were nothing. All around them, spectators cheered wildly.

The team members froze, their mouths hanging open. They had seen recordings of this before. Even so, witnessing it again felt like staring directly into hell.

The high school girls shut their eyes tightly. Swear-Master cursed under his breath. Even the cleaning lady staggered slightly, unable to keep her balance.

“Fuck...”

“Oh my...”

“It’s a good thing we didn’t bring the kids,” someone added quietly.

It wasn’t a sight anyone, whether adult or not, should have to witness. However, it couldn’t be avoided.

“That’s the arena you saw, right?” Eun-Ho asked.

“Yes, it is,” the Crow replied.

That was their destination, the very place they had to go.

Eun-Ho pressed. “There’s nowhere else that might hold something valuable? Like an office, or a private chamber?”

“No. That’s the only place,” the bird answered.

This was where the company had first begun.The so-called abandoned city that the former chairman had built from nothing. Somewhere in that place lay the final piece Eun-Ho required to fully take control of the company.

The Crow hesitated. “Ah, right and also—no, never mind.”

“What is it?” Eun-Ho asked.

The Crow, which had been sitting quietly against him, seemed to recall something and opened its beak again.

“There are ruins outside the main area, but if there was anything valuable there, the ruffians in the wasteland would’ve stripped it clean by now.”

“Ruffians?” Eun-Ho asked.

“Yeah, people with nowhere else to go. Escaped gladiators, drifters who ended up there by chance... all sorts. And...” the Crow trailed off. It stretched its neck forward and lowered its voice, almost whispering into Eun-Ho’s ear, “There’s one particularly tenacious bastard among them.”

The bird shuddered as if recalling something unpleasant. “And the arena’s overseers are no pushovers either.”

“You’ve seen them?” Eun-Ho asked.

The Crow’s beak clicked faintly, betraying a hint of tension. “From a distance. I didn’t exactly meet them face-to-face, but you can tell just by looking.”

“What about their abilities?” Eun-Ho asked.

“They’re used to handling slave gladiators, so they specialize in restraint and binding techniques. I even saw one who could summon monsters freely.”

Wasteland ruffians and arena overseers?

Somewhere among them was the former chairman’s legacy. Whether they could retrieve it safely was another matter entirely.

“You’re not planning to fight them are you, my friend?” the Crow asked cautiously.

“We’ll see,” Eun-Ho replied.

Unnecessary fights weren’t worth picking, but necessary ones weren’t worth avoiding either.

The real question is who I should take with me.

Eun-Ho looked around at the group. “So, who’s coming with me?”