Blood Demon of the Past Life – Chapter 65

Chapter 65: A Nail that Sticks Out （7）

The atmosphere in the conference room was bleak.

In a situation where even breathing seemed to draw attention, Jeong Min-hyeok, who arrived late, rolled his eyes and looked at the team members. But strangely, no one made eye contact with him. Even the senior who used to be the team leader of Castle quickly averted his gaze when he met Jeong Min-hyeok’s eyes.

He felt uneasy.

At that moment, as the creeping sense of foreboding intensified, Jeong Hye-mi entered and spoke without even sitting down at the head of the table.

“Is everyone here?”

“Yes.”

“Where’s Manager Jeong Min-hyeok?”

“He’s at the end of the table over there.”

“Ah, it’s you?”

His heart sank.

It was certain.

Something was up.

As Jeong Min-hyeok looked at her with a clueless expression, Jeong Hye-mi spoke with a cold expression.

“I heard that when you recently discussed recruiting a Tanker named ‘Kang San,’ Manager Jeong Min-hyeok strongly opposed it. Can you explain the reason clearly?”

“Well…”

He swallowed hard.

Kang San?

Why was that name being mentioned again?

Although he couldn’t understand it logically, he could tell from the atmosphere around him that he had to ‘explain’ it well.

“As those who were present at the time know, Kang San and I are personally acquainted. He is a guy who received an F-rank in his post-Awakening and has been wandering around as a human shield for the past few years without any achievements. So, I thought he wasn’t a good fit for Cheonsang’s class. Even if a high-ranking executive’s child recommended him, as a Cheonsang manager, shouldn’t we have a strong belief in our recruitment standards? I don’t think my judgment was wrong.”

He spoke strongly.

It was probably Jeong Chan-woo who complained about that incident.

The moment he acknowledged his mistake as a mistake, he would have to take the blame for everything without any excuses. So, he didn’t admit it was a mistake from the beginning. If he thought about it, wasn’t his action justified? The members of Team 5 also agreed on the decision to reject the recruitment because they agreed with Jeong Min-hyeok’s opinion.

“Interesting.”

Jeong Hye-mi chuckled.

She took a step.

She manipulated something on the computer and displayed a video on the screen.

“Then let’s check. Whether Kang San is a person who has no value in recruitment, as Manager Jeong Min-hyeok said.”

✦✦✦✦✦✦

At first, everyone couldn’t understand the situation.

It didn’t make sense to make such a fuss over an E-rank Hunter’s issue, to the point of summoning the entire 5th team.

But when the video ended.

Everyone was clearly nervous.

When the sound of someone gulping loudly was heard, Jeong Hye-mi looked at the 5th team members and said,

“Let’s hear your impressions after watching the video, one by one.”

Everyone hesitated.

Then, when one team member met Jeong Hye-mi’s gaze, he hurriedly opened his mouth as if taking the lead.

“…In my judgment, it was excellent. Aside from the overall quality of the party, the E-rank Tanker showed stable tanking ability against more than ten D-rank monsters. In fact, it’s quite perplexing. Unlike Manager Jeong Min-hyeok’s explanation, it was a completely different person in the video.”

He was the start.

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, the team members added their own words.

“Just based on the results, it’s at a level that would be sufficient for a C-rank individual promotion test. There’s no reason for Cheonsang not to recruit him.”

“I don’t understand on what basis Manager Jeong Min-hyeok evaluated it as ‘poor skill’. As you all know, there’s detail in Kang San’s tanking. Things like positioning, and the sense to protect colleagues in an instant. Is he really a former F-rank human shield?”

“I’m really embarrassed. Actually, when I was with Castle Management, I tried to push for Kang San’s recruitment, but stopped. At that time, Manager Jeong Min-hyeok clearly insisted on how unskilled Kang San was, but after checking the video, I’m disappointed in myself. For not checking it myself. I’m sorry. This is all my fault for not teaching my successor well.”

The last one.

It was the team leader from the Castle Management days.

Everyone quickly cut ties, emphasizing that they had nothing to do with this matter.

Jeong Hye-mi’s gaze turned to Jeong Min-hyeok.

“You need to explain this situation, I think.”

He closed his eyes tightly.

He felt dizzy.

He wanted to make some excuse, but even Jeong Min-hyeok thought Kang San in the video had a brilliant talent. Just when did he get such skills? Trapped in memories of the past, he had failed to properly assess Kang San’s current level. This situation was a clear mistake with no room for excuses.

Should he try to gloss it over?

It would probably be difficult.

Cheonsang didn’t interfere with other teams, so the fact that Jeong Hye-mi had come to see him meant the problem was serious.

Jeong Min-hyeok spoke in the most dying voice he could muster.

“…I’m really sorry. I should have been more careful in the recruitment process, but I made the mistake of reflecting on past memories. If you give me a chance now, I’ll go and push for Kang San’s recruitment right away. Since I have a past connection with him, my words will be more effective than others’.”

“I think differently.”

Her attitude changed.

Jeong Hye-mi, who had been polite because he was from another team, now showed a cold gaze, as if a cold wind was blowing.

“First of all, it’s already beyond the scope of what you can handle. The fact that you gave a negative evaluation despite having a personal connection means that your connection won’t be of much help in recruiting Kang San. And you also went around claiming your assertion was true until you saw the video. This is why it’s a problem. Managers are people who should evaluate not only the present value, but also the future value, but idiots like you always muddy the waters.”

Jeong Min-hyeok froze.

To him, who couldn’t even make an excuse.

“What are you doing? Get out of here. There’s no place for someone like you here.”

Jeong Hye-mi delivered the death sentence.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Jeong Min-hyeok left.

It was a situation where an employee was fired on the spot, and the atmosphere couldn’t help but freeze.

Some might say it was an overly emotional response, but surprisingly, Jeong Hye-mi was quite calm.

This judgment.

It was a deliberate calculation.

‘To push for Kang San’s recruitment, it would be better to eliminate any potential obstacles.’

Think about it.

If he was spreading such negative rumors even though he had a connection with Kang San from his school days, their relationship must be bad. And if Kang San knew that Cheonsang had internally rejected his recruitment. She needed a plausible story. That the employee who made such a judgment had already been fired, and that Cheonsang wasn’t stupid enough to make the same mistake.

Lastly,

Jeong Min-hyeok was unnecessary.

There was no reason to keep a guy who ruined his work with personal feelings and even made excuses, while paying him a salary.

Jeong Hye-mi looked at the Team 5 members and said,

“First of all, I’m sorry for causing such a commotion even though I’m not from Team 5. I was clearly aware that it was an act of overstepping my authority , but I had to step in because I judged that there was an existence that was eating away at the inside. The issue of Kang San’s recruitment will be transferred to Team 3. Does anyone think this is unfair?”

“No.”

“I think it should be handled that way.”

The situation was settled.

Jeong Hye-mi left the conference room.

Now that she had dealt with the fundamental problem, it was time to focus on the issue of Kang San’s recruitment.

Team 3 conference room.

Everyone was busy working hard.

As soon as Jeong Hye-mi entered the conference room, reports flooded in.

“Currently, the party members are Kang San, Jo Han-byeol, Yeon Woo-bin, and Jeong Chan-woo, a total of four.”

“Yeon Woo-bin’s father is the director of the ‘Hunter Emergency Center.’ Since he comes from a very wealthy family, it is judged that general offers will not work. The same goes for Jo Han-byeol’s family.”

“It is judged that Kang San’s past as an F-rank human shield is true. It is unknown how he improved so much in such a short period of time, but he is a person who has shown results even during his days as a human shield, having carried out over a hundred raids. If such a person also has skills, his recruitment value is more than enough.”

She gathered information.

Thorough preparation was necessary.

Instead of wasting time because he wasn’t reachable, Jeong Hye-mi thought about an offer that Kang San would find attractive. In fact, Kang San’s recruitment wasn’t that big of a deal. The recruitment of A~B rank is an important issue that is reported in the news, but that doesn’t mean that the lower ranks can be neglected.

This field.

The future is uncertain.

It’s a world where an A-rank Hunter can fall, and an F-rank Hunter can suddenly rebound.

Of course, such extreme cases are not common, but managers needed to assess future value.

As they were working hard like that,

『Nuna. What’s up?』

Jeong Chan-woo, who had finished his review, finally sent a message.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

First, she met Jeong Chan-woo separately.

It was to grasp the situation first, but Jeong Hye-mi frowned at the unexpected answer.

“…Daeyang approached him first?”

“Yeah. Not long after the test was over, a guy who said he was the team leader of Daeyang Management contacted me. Come to think of it, how did he know our numbers? Anyway, the conditions were insane. He said he would give all the party members a 7:3 ratio and a contract fee of 100 million won each.”

‘They’re really crossing the line.’

Her stomach was churning.

Daeyang, not content with failing the test, quickly moved to snatch the talent.

This made it clear.

The fact that they contacted him before Jeong Hye-mi, who moved almost immediately, suggests that the person involved had a personal relationship with Daeyang Management. Even just the contact information. It was clear that he got the contact information from the person involved, as he contacted him without even having time to investigate who Kang San was without much information.

She was angry.

But she wasn’t stupid enough to contact Daeyang.

This field is originally a world like this, and the one who loses talent is incompetent and stupid.

Fortunately, he rejected Daeyang’s offer.

But it couldn’t be called good news either.

Jeong Chan-woo said,

“…I don’t think he’ll accept Cheonsang’s offer. No matter how great Cheonsang is, they can’t make an offer that’s overwhelmingly better than Daeyang Management. In the end, there will be limitations when dealing with C~D ranks. And Kang San-hyung, as I know him, isn’t someone who easily changes his mind. He must have judged that he doesn’t need the help of management right now, so he was able to refuse that huge amount of money.”

Would they know?

From the moment he donated over 100 million won for the Trial,

Money was no longer an absolute criterion for Kang San.

Of course, it would be nice to have a lot, but what was more important to Kang San now was to survive the Trial every day.

“That’s why I told you to do it right when I told you. I raised my voice so much about buying at the bottom, but it didn’t work.”

“…Don’t even start.”

Jeong Hye-mi ruffled her hair.

As Jeong Chan-woo said, it didn’t look easy.

If she contacted him recklessly, it could backfire and create a negative image.

Now that he knew that he had been rejected internally by Cheonsang, the situation was even more unfavorable than Daeyang Management.

‘The more I hear Chan-woo’s story, the more attractive he becomes. If Chan-woo’s skills, which I saw during the test, improved thanks to Kang San’s help, then those skills were not created by chance. It means that Kang San accurately judges himself and knows which direction is right. Then, I need an excuse to leave room for recruitment while making my relationship with Kang San as good as possible.’

This field.

Three visits to the thatched cottage is the basic.

A salesperson who retreats immediately after being rejected once has already submitted his resignation and cannot survive in this field.

Suddenly,

A brilliant idea came to mind.

Jeong Hye-mi straightened her posture and asked Jeong Chan-woo,

“…Could you possibly invite Kang San-nim as a temporary instructor for Project B team?”