#3

The moment I heard those words, it felt as if someone had struck the back of my head with full force.

What…… did he just say?

I stared at Secretary Yoo Hanjin with trembling eyes. Did he really just refer to people as ‘products’? I didn’t mishear that, did I? I desperately hoped he would say it was all a joke, but the words I wanted to hear never came out of his mouth. He simply stood there, shaking with tension.

Seeing his unsettling reaction, I had no choice but to accept the reality—I had not misheard. He wasn’t joking. And the moment that truth settled in, a cold flame ignited deep within me.

“……You called them ‘products’?”

People. He was calling people ‘products’.

I turned my now ice-cold gaze toward the members of Tartarus. Some of them flinched, but I had no time to concern myself with that. Instead, I quickly scanned their conditions.

The first thing I noticed—and wondered how I had missed it before—was how pale and sickly they looked. Their expressions were dark, their skin almost ghostly. Then, I saw how unnaturally tense their bodies were. Why were they holding themselves so rigidly? Was it just nerves? No. It wasn’t just tension…

A sudden realization struck me.

I sprang up from the sofa and strode toward them. As I suddenly approached, the members of Tartarus eyed me with wary expressions, their bodies stiffening further. I ignored their apprehension and stopped right in front of Yoo Euiseo, who stood particularly rigid.

“W-What are you doing……?”

“Excuse me for a moment.”

After a brief word of warning, I grabbed the collar of Yoo Euiseo’s shirt and pulled it aside. The stretchy fabric easily shifted under my grip, revealing his shoulder.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Yoo Euiseo shoved my hand away, clearly startled by my sudden action. But it was too late—I had already seen the bruises covering his shoulder.

Dark, mottled bruises.

Yoo Euiseo instinctively covered his shoulder with his hand and took a few steps back, his posture defensive. I stared coldly at the shoulder he was trying to hide before slowly shifting my gaze to Secretary Yoo Hanjin.

“……You said they’re in good condition, young, and healthy? From what I see, the only correct statement in that list is that they’re young. Do they look like they’re in good condition to you?”

“I-I……!”

At my chilling words, Secretary Yoo Hanjin darted his eyes toward his boss, silently pleading for help. The look in his eyes was a desperate cry for salvation.

Right. This man might be complicit, but the one truly responsible for this situation is over there.

Following his gaze, I turned toward President Lee Yongjun. He was in the middle of awkwardly rising from the sofa but quickly straightened up when he realized I was looking at him.

“President Goo, what’s with the reaction? That kind of thing doesn’t even count as an injury. These kids are young and full of energy—it’ll heal in a few days without leaving a trace. Their market value won’t be affected in the slightest.”

At the ridiculous nonsense spewing from his mouth, I pressed my fingers against my temple in frustration. My head throbbed as if it would split open, and my stomach churned as though molten lava was bubbling inside me.

“Sung Yoojun-ssi! Say something! President Goo is new to the entertainment business, so he doesn’t understand how things work yet. As someone with experience, you should be guiding him properly!”

President Lee Yongjun, unable to get the reaction he wanted from me, started yelling at the man who had entered with me, urging him to agree with him. However, the man completely ignored Lee Yongjun’s tantrum and simply continued staring at me.

So that person is my secretary. His name is Sung Yoojun.

Realizing this new fact, I removed my fingers from my temple and looked at Secretary Sung Yoojun with a newfound sense of awareness. As I did, Sung Yoojun, who had been staring at me intently, quietly opened his mouth.

“Shall I take care of it?”

……Take care of what? That man?

I blinked in surprise at Sung Yoojun’s words. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to interpret what he had just said. But while I stood there dumbfounded, President Lee Yongjun seemed to have already finished assessing the situation. In a lightning-fast motion, he rushed forward and knelt before me.

“P-please, spare me!”

His desperation was evident as he clung to my pant leg, pleading earnestly.

“Please, let me live! Last time we met, President Goo, you said it yourself—if I handed them over, all my debts would be cleared. But why are you doing this now? Do you want something more? Have you set your sights on my company now? But you know, President Goo, this company and those guys are all I have left. If I hand this company over to you too, how am I supposed to survive? Right? So even if you’re not completely satisfied, can’t we just settle this with you taking them?”

“……”

“They’re really good kids, I swear! They’re top-tier idols! Do you even know how much money they bring in? If it weren’t for this situation, I’d never hand them over to anyone. O-of course, I admit I was a little rough with them. But come on, I’m a businessman. Do you think I’d damage such valuable assets? Their injuries will heal quickly, I promise. I swear on it.”

……This is disgusting.

The more I listened to Lee Yongjun, the sicker I felt. To suppress the nausea rising in my throat, I bit the inside of my lip hard. A sharp pain spread through my mouth along with a faint metallic taste. Seeing him treat living people as mere commodities was something my morals could never accept.

“President Goo, please…… Just think of it as sparing a life. Please, just this once. I’ll do whatever you want, as long as you don’t take my company.”

The longer he pleaded, the tighter he clung to my pant leg. Should I just kick him away……?

I had never treated anyone harshly in my entire life, but today might be the first time.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—before I could act on that impulse, Secretary Sung Yoojun stepped in, pulling Lee Yongjun away from me.

As Lee Yongjun was dragged further and further away, I looked down at him with cold, detached eyes.

How could someone do this to those kids and feel no guilt at all?

The image of Yoo Euiseo’s bruises flashed before my eyes. I had only seen them in passing, but my annoyingly sharp eyesight could distinguish the shades—some red, some blue, some yellow…… clear evidence that he had been repeatedly subjected to violence.

And judging by Lee Yongjun’s words and attitude, Yoo Euiseo wasn’t the only victim. It was probably the entire group, Tartarus.

“……Haa.”

A deep sigh slipped from my lips. I wanted nothing more than to check on the boys behind me, but I held back that urge and ran a hand through my hair in frustration—only to pause at the unfamiliar sensation at my fingertips.

Since coming into this game world, I hadn’t had a chance to look in a mirror. But now, I realized my hair was neatly styled with wax. A look I would never normally go for.

That realization made everything click—I finally remembered what role I was playing in this situation.

“……Secretary Sung.”

“Yes, President.”

“Let him go. We need to sign the contract.”

“Understood.”

As I spoke in a low, chilling voice, Secretary Sung Yoojun efficiently flung Lee Yongjun onto the sofa. His body arced through the air before landing softly on the cushions. I had hoped he’d get a little hurt in the process, but judging by the ridiculous amount of money he had poured into that couch, it barely seemed to faze him.

I watched as he lay sprawled out before scrambling to sit up properly. I shot him a glare filled with irritation before striding over to the table. Without hesitation, I grabbed the contract.

I had already skimmed through it earlier and hadn’t noticed any major issues, so I could probably stamp it right now. But the thought of how little I knew about the entertainment industry held me back.

What if he had slipped in some unfair clauses, banking on my lack of knowledge? From the way he spoke, it wasn’t like he was the kind of person who lived with an unwavering sense of integrity.

“Secretary Sung.”

“Yes. I’ll take care of it.”

I ultimately couldn’t shake off my suspicions about President Lee Yongjun. So, I decided to play the best card I had at the moment—Secretary Sung Yoojun, an experienced professional in the entertainment business, personally vouched for by Lee Yongjun himself.

Without hesitation, I handed the contract to Sung Yoojun, who immediately understood my unspoken intentions and acted accordingly. Under normal circumstances, I would never have let someone else handle a contract in my name. Yet, for some reason, I felt like I could trust Sung Yoojun.

It was an odd feeling. How could I place such ungrounded trust in someone I had only met today? Was it because this was a game world? Had I been affected by some strange mechanic that made me feel this way about him? If that were the case, I would find it quite unsettling.

As I stared at Sung Yoojun, momentarily lost in thought, I quickly decided to push those concerns to the back of my mind. No matter the reason, I lacked the information needed to reach a definitive answer right now.

Besides, there were more pressing matters at hand.