The next day.
When Tae-woo arrived at the address on the business card at ten in the morning, he found himself standing before a towering building that looked to be about twenty stories tall.
At the very top, the word “Gwihon” was displayed in large, unmistakable letters.
“Wow.”
An exclamation escaped Tae-woo before he even realized it.
To think his grandfather had owned a company of this size.
He still could not believe it.
Tae-woo straightened his carefully chosen suit and headed into the building.
CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK—
As he entered with the box tucked under his arm, the woman at the reception desk directly ahead rose from her seat.
“Welcome. How may I help you?”
Tae-woo hesitated, glancing around before answering.
“Um, I was told I had an interview at ten today.”
“May I have your name?”
“Kim Tae-woo.”
“Ah, yes. Please go to the vice chairman's office. Take the elevator to the twentieth floor.”
Tae-woo gave the receptionist an awkward bow and made his way to the elevator.
* * *
What appeared to be the vice chairman's office was furnished with luxurious natural wood, and behind the executive desk stood an enormous floor-to-ceiling window.
The unobstructed view over Gangnam only added to the room's air of luxury.
As Tae-woo stepped inside, he noticed the nameplate on the desk.
[Vice Chairman Kim Hong-seok]
So the spiritual son who had given Tae-woo the box and business card really was the head of this company.
“It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Kim Hong-seok, the vice chairman and acting CEO of Gwihon Trading, the company your grandfather founded.”
“Ah. Yes, of course.”
Tae-woo looked around the office once more, still fascinated.
“Quite a surprise, isn't it? I doubt Father ever told you about this company. He was always distressed by the thought that the spirit sight he had passed down through his bloodline was causing his grandson to suffer.”
By “Father,” Hong-seok meant Tae-woo's grandfather, who had been his spiritual father.
Tae-woo was still unaccustomed to hearing his grandfather addressed that way. Each time the title came up in conversation, it took him a moment to adjust.
“That's part of it, but... Grandpa owning a trading company? I'm completely astonished.”
“Haha. I can understand why you'd feel that way. But in the end, he built a trading business around what he knew how to do. Strictly speaking, he was putting his talents to good use.”
“Pardon?”
Unable to understand what Hong-seok meant, Tae-woo looked at him questioningly.
Hong-seok smiled and pointed to the box Tae-woo was holding.
“The Ghost-Observing Blade and the Ghost Observation Record you're carrying are the very things Father used when he founded this company. From now on, you'll need to bring that box with you whenever you come to work.”
“What? You want me to bring this to work? But it's a sword. An actual sword!”
“Yes. Just as business cards are important to salespeople and laboratory equipment is important to researchers, weapons like those are essential to the employees of Gwihon Trading's Cleanup Team.”
“Wait. I understand that I'm supposed to join this Cleanup Team, but what exactly does the team do? Does it handle problems inside the company? Is it some kind of contract cleaning service?”
Tae-woo asked with mounting frustration.
“I recommend that you learn that firsthand.”
The acting CEO answered with a smile, then added,
“And that Ghost Observation Record was one of the foundational sources used to establish this company. Please make sure you study it thoroughly.”
“Seriously, what kind of...”
Tae-woo frowned as he looked down at the box.
What kind of company expected its employees to show up for work carrying a fantasy novel and a sword?
“Oh, right. I nearly forgot. That box isn't the only inheritance Father left you.”
Hong-seok rose from his seat and approached Tae-woo.
Then he placed the remote control he was holding into Tae-woo's hand.
Tae-woo felt as though one astonishing piece of information after another was being thrown at him without giving him any time to think.
“Father left you a house, a car, and a thirty-four percent share of the company's profits. You'll be living at the house from now on.”
The remote controlled the garage door and the front gate of the house.
An address on the outskirts of Seoul was written on its underside.
“Grandpa left me a house and a car? And a stake in the company, too?”
“Yes. Father wanted you to inherit this company. But since you know nothing about how it operates, he instructed that you join the company, work here, and learn the business firsthand before becoming its CEO. Think of it as a kind of successor training program. Until then, I've agreed to manage the company as acting CEO.”
“...A company with annual revenue of seven hundred and fifty billion won? What happens if I refuse the job?”
“Then you'll have to return everything he left you.”
Kim Hong-seok's answer briefly swept away all the doubts that had been swirling through Tae-woo's mind.
There would be various deductions, of course, but even by a simple calculation, he stood to earn tens of billions of won a year.
What possible reason could he have to turn down an offer like that?
Kim Hong-seok broke into a broad smile.
“You'll need to move your belongings today, so you may leave for now. There should be people waiting downstairs to help you.”
“What? People are waiting to help me?”
“Yes. I hope your move goes smoothly. Report to the Cleanup Team on the fourth floor by nine tomorrow morning.”
“Uh... yes.”
It was one unbelievable revelation after another.
When Tae-woo remained standing there in a daze, Hong-seok gave him another kindly smile and gestured for him to go downstairs.
“Oh, right. Yes, yes. Then, um...”
Tae-woo bowed almost automatically, took the elevator, and returned to the first floor.
There, several men in black suits were waiting to greet him.
“This way, young master.”
Addressing him as “young master,” they escorted him toward a limousine in the parking garage.
Still bewildered, Tae-woo climbed into the car.
A short while later, they arrived at an enormous two-story mansion.
There was a yard filled with all sorts of trees, a swimming pool, and a garage large enough for at least five cars.
Gardeners, housekeepers, and other staff were working in various parts of the property.
It was the sort of wealthy family's mansion he had only ever seen in television dramas.
“This is your room, young master.”
A housekeeper led him to a room on the second floor.
When she opened the door, an astonishingly spacious and luxurious bedroom came into view.
Inside were a top-of-the-line liquid-cooled computer and an array of the latest IT devices, all neatly displayed.
“W-wow.”
Tae-woo stared at the equipment with his eyes wide open.
There were even imported devices worth millions, or tens of millions, of won.
'Grandpa knew what I studied. He even knew what I liked.'
His estranged relationship with his grandfather came back to him, and he felt an unexpected pang of guilt.
“All of this... is mine?”
Tae-woo turned to the housekeeper, looking astonished.
“Yes. The founding chairman left all of these things in your name, young master. All the paperwork for the transfer of ownership has been taken care of, so you're free to use everything as you please.”
“Whoa.”
It was a reality he could hardly believe.
He ran his hands over the displayed devices, clicking his tongue in amazement.
The very things he had only admired while watching videos about IT exhibitions on NewTube were now spread out before his eyes—and they belonged to him.
It still seemed unbelievable.
“Then please make yourself comfortable.”
The housekeeper folded her hands, bowed, and left the room.
Tae-woo continued examining the equipment, a satisfied smile on his face.
* * *
Then came the following day.
He had been told he could drive any of the cars in the garage, but perhaps because he still could not think of them as his own, Tae-woo planned to take the bus to Gwihon Trading instead.
Just then, a man in a suit pulled up in a luxury midsize sedan and opened the door for him.
“Good morning. I'm Lee Seung-hoon, your personal chauffeur, young master. I'll drive you to the office.”
Before he quite knew what was happening, Tae-woo was riding to work in the back seat of a luxury sedan for the first time in his life.
When he arrived at the office, everyone he passed greeted him.
It was almost as though the entire company already knew who he was.
'What? Why is everyone acting like they know me?'
Assuming that greeting everyone they encountered was simply part of the company culture, he returned their greetings and boarded the elevator.
When he pressed the button for the fourth floor, the doors closed and an announcement sounded.
[Fourth floor selected. Verifying identity.]
It was something he had never heard from an elevator before.
Puzzled, Tae-woo looked up at the elevator's security camera. A red light flashed brightly once.
[Cleanup Team, Senior Associate Kim Tae-woo. Identity confirmed. Ascending to the fourth floor.]
Only then did the elevator begin to rise.
Apparently, the fourth floor had its own security system.
“What on earth is this?”
Tae-woo stared at the elevator's LED display in bewilderment.
[Fourth floor.]
The doors opened when he reached his destination.
Beyond them stretched a large office filled with chest-high partitions, computers, and filing cabinets.
The people who had arrived earlier were already hard at work.
Some were talking on the phone, others were packing bags as though preparing to head out on assignments, and still others were having serious discussions with their colleagues.
At first glance, it did not look much different from any other company's office.
“Uh...?”
Then he witnessed something astonishing.
One of the employees heading out on an assignment was putting a pistol and a dagger into his bag.
Another was walking down the corridor with two Japanese swords strapped across his back in an X.
Yet every one of them was dressed in a business suit.
“Th-this is a little unsettling...”
As Tae-woo stood there looking utterly lost, a woman with a short bob approached him.
“You're Kim Tae-woo, right? This way, please.”
She, too, spoke naturally, as though she already knew him, and beckoned for him to follow.
The employee ID hanging around her neck read “Assistant Manager Yoon Ye-rim.”
“This is your desk, Mr. Kim.”
She pointed to a desk at one side of the office.
A small nameplate reading “Senior Associate Kim Tae-woo” had already been placed there, along with a computer and a sword rack.
“What's this?”
Tae-woo pointed at the sword rack.
“A sword rack.”
“No, I can see that. But why is there a sword rack in an office?”
“I heard your primary weapon was a Joseon-era saber, Senior Associate Kim. Isn't that right?”
“A J-Joseon-era saber? Primary weapon...? What are you talking about?”
When Tae-woo tilted his head in confusion, the woman pointed to the wooden box tucked against his waist.
“Yes, the Ghost-Observing Blade. The one the founding chairman left you.”
“Ahh. Oh, right.”
Only then did he understand why the rack was there.
Of course, understanding the reason did not mean he found it remotely reasonable.
What kind of workplace sent employees out on assignments carrying dangerous weapons?
And why did his desk have a rack specifically designed to hold swords?
“Wait here for a moment. Our department head will call for you shortly. You can get yourself settled in the meantime.”
The woman smiled and headed off somewhere.
Tae-woo stood blankly in front of his desk for a while before finally sitting down.
He took out the Joseon-era saber and placed it on the rack, then set the Blood-Counting Dagger on top of the stand.
“Hey! Senior Associate Kim!”
A deep, rough voice suddenly rang out from somewhere nearby.
“Mr. Tae-woo! The department head is calling you.”
Assistant Manager Yoon Ye-rim pointed toward one side of the office.
Tae-woo hurriedly got to his feet and turned to look. A man standing outside a private office in the corner was waving at him.
He looked well over 180 centimeters tall, with broad, powerful shoulders.
Whether it was the scar on his face or his fierce features, he looked almost like a gangster.
“Senior Associate Kim! My office.”
The man called out heartily before stepping back inside.
Tae-woo cast a self-conscious glance around the room, then followed him in.