Série: The All-Rounder Employee Becomes a Legend
Título: The All-Rounder Employee Becomes a Legend Chapter 15
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15 : The Guiding Senior's Choice
When Tae-seok worked manual labor, the hardest part wasn’t the physical work itself, but dealing with people.
No matter how perfectly he performed his job, if his relationship with the team leader, director, or client was bad, trouble would always follow.
He’d get nitpicked, forced to redo everything, have his pay delayed, or sometimes not get paid at all.
That was why he couldn’t step in, even though he saw Kang Min-yong struggling.
A roommate who woke up at 6 AM to go around to each room.
But all he got in return was criticism.
Tae-seok only learned about it when he heard the Guiding Senior’s furious voice.
“Kim Tae-seok!”
“Yes.”
“Where did Kang Min-yong go?”
“I don't know. He was gone when I woke up….”
“Could you find him and let me know? I'll be in the small conference room until 7:30 without eating. If he's not there, don't bother coming.”
“Yes, I understand. Guiding Senior, may I ask for your phone number?”
“Ah, yes. Of course.”
After getting the Guiding Senior's contact information, Tae-seok went to look for Kang Min-yong.
Come to think of it, they hadn't even exchanged numbers yet.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I should have exchanged numbers with him yesterday…’
Then again, there hadn't been time. He had been busy.
As he looked down the hallway, he noticed a commotion coming from room B19.
“Seriously! You hand out a survey at 6:30 and expect it back by 7? Can't you see we're busy trying to wash up right now?”
“Please understand. I only received the task late as well…”
“Ah, seriously, if you said you were going to be the team leader, you should have managed things properly.”
“Yes, yes! I'll be more careful. So please, just turn a blind eye and do it. I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry.”
Kang Min-yong bustled about alone, going from room to room, asking for their understanding and collecting the surveys.
From Tae-seok’s point of view, it was frustrating. Why was Kang Min-yong trying to handle everything alone? If he just asked for help, the others would surely pitch in.
But that question was answered soon enough.
After Kang Min-yong left for another room, Tae-seok heard two people talking in room 19.
“Isn't that a bit harsh?”
“What is?”
“He looks pitiful.”
“Pitiful? What's pitiful about it! He gets points for this. He's trying to do it all himself to hog the 20 points. He wants to get first place in the training program!”
“Where did you hear that?”
“It's written right there. In the guidebook! ‘Being a team leader earns 20 points. However, these points can be transferred.’ He could share them with others, but he's not accepting help because he wants to monopolize them. It wouldn't be a problem if he was good at his job, but he just has no knack for it.”
“No way! There was something like that?”
The company wanted its new employees to be skilled at dealing with people right from the start.
The reason was simple. They were employees of a major corporation. While they held the lowest rank within the company, that was definitely not the case when they went outside.
They had to deal with subcontractors and successfully close deals with counterparts on equal footing.
The foundation for all that was proactiveness and smooth interpersonal relationships.
Tae-seok was so shocked he almost staggered. Had Kang Min-yong really thought that far ahead?
Just then, a message appeared.
[General Quest: Read the 2018 Elseong Training Center Guidebook to the end]
Read the guidebook containing the necessary information for the Elseong Group New Employee training program from cover to cover, and perfectly prepare for the education that will take place over the next 4 weeks.
[Reward for completion: 5 Points]
Another one popped up.
[General Quest: Try being a team leader]
Being a team leader can leave a good impression on your colleagues. Take on the role of team leader and earn their recognition. However, doing a poor job is worse than not doing it at all.
[Upon selection as Team Leader: 5 Points, 20 merit points]
‘Hello? You drop these quests and then just disappear?’
Tae-seok shouted inwardly at the unknown entity.
But it remained silent.
The entity had gone quiet at some point.
Tae-seok sighed and shook his head.
‘Did Kang Min-yong really plan this far ahead? If so, that’s impressive… in a way.’
In one sense, he was extremely clever. In another, he was incredibly foolish.
What if Kang Min-yong had volunteered to be the team leader to get first place in the training program and had refused favors with the sole intention of not sharing the 20 points?
Just imagining it was unpleasant.
Human greed knows no bounds, but this kind of backstabbing was not good.
‘He completely looked down on me just because I’m after the points…’
Since the Guiding Senior had asked him to, Tae-seok found Kang Min-yong, who had moved to another room, and spoke to him. Fortunately, he was in the middle of collecting surveys, so he was easy to find.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes, Tae-seok. What is it?”
“The Guiding Senior is looking for you. You should go to the small conference room on the second floor.”
“Now?”
“He said to be there by 7:30.”
“Ah, I'm not done yet….”
He took out his phone and checked the time.
7:15. There were still 15 minutes left.
Tae-seok asked him once more.
“Should I help you?”
“It's okay. I can do it all by myself. So, I'll gratefully accept just your sentiment, Tae-seok. Don't worry about it and go on ahead.”
“Alright. I'll go wash up first, then. We're eating together, right?”
“No. You go ahead and eat first. And if you came just to deliver that message, I'm sorry for taking up your time. So you don't have to worry about me from now on.”
“……”
Tae-seok was disappointed by Kang Min-yong's behavior.
‘Is it really all because of the points? I didn’t even ask for anything… This rejection feels so awkward.’
Tae-seok felt there was no need for him to be the first to bow down to someone who rejected personal relationships and interaction.
‘I’m not offering any more help. For now, I’ll keep my distance and act accordingly.’
As soon as he finished speaking, he hurried off to another room with busy steps.
It was to collect the surveys.
Seeing this, Tae-seok called the Guiding Senior in the small conference room.
- Hello? This is Deputy Kim Min-seong.
“Yes. Guiding Senior, this is Kim Tae-seok, the B Team Leader's roommate. I've relayed your message to our team leader.”
- You did? Then why isn't he here?
“I think he's trying to come after compiling the surveys.”
- I see. Tae-seok, have you eaten?
“Not yet.”
- You don't have anyone to eat with, do you? If you're done washing up, come to the small conference room by 7:30. Let's eat with the team leader.
“Yes. Understood.”
Following Guiding Senior Kim Min-seong's words, Tae-seok quickly went to the washroom, washed up, and came out.
After roughly drying his hair with a towel and changing his clothes, he headed to the small conference room. The time was 07:28.
Kim Min-seong looked furious.
Tae-seok shook his head.
His roommate still hadn’t shown up.
‘Hoo, this guy, really….’
『If you can’t handle it, say so. If a problem comes up, report it immediately.』
He should at least be giving interim reports like that, but the man showed no such flexibility. And so, the fallout landed on Tae-seok again.
“Tae-seok, did you relay the message?”
“Yes. I definitely told him earlier.”
“Hmm… When Min-yong went into the room at dawn, did anything unusual happen? He didn't curse or anything, did he?”
“No. Nothing like that.”
“Hoo, this is starting to get a little frustrating. He said the broadcasting equipment was broken yesterday, and he was struggling to fix it until 1 AM. So I told him to hurry up and go to his room, but he hadn't done a single one of the surveys I'd assigned. That's why it's dragged on until this morning….”
Just then, Kang Min-yong walked in.
The Guiding Senior asked him.
“Why are you so late?”
“I was delayed because I was still collecting and compiling the surveys.”
“Are you all done?”
“Not yet. A few people were uncooperative and got angry, so it took longer. I've written down their names here.”
A list of a whopping 11 rooms.
Looking at it, Guiding Senior Kim Min-seong lost his temper for the first time.
“If 11 rooms refused to cooperate, doesn’t that mean the problem lies with the team leader? How exactly did you communicate with them?”
“……”
“Fine. It's mealtime, so go eat.”
At his words, Kang Min-yong spoke to the Guiding Senior.
“Yes. Understood. Aren't you eating, Senior?”
“I'm not hungry, so you go eat.”
“Understood. Enjoy your meal.”
Kang Min-yong left with a sigh of relief. Watching his back, Tae-seok shook his head. The Guiding Senior did the same.
‘Disappointing to the very end.’
Just then, the representatives from A Team and Team C, which consisted of the female employees, entered the small conference room at the perfect time.
“Guiding Senior! We're here to submit the surveys.”
“Ah, are you all done? A Team?”
“Yes. Here you go.”
A Team had not only compiled all the surveys but had also neatly summarized the results by hand on an A4 sheet of paper.
The representative from Team C, in charge of the female dorms, submitted not only the compiled results but also printouts with tables and graphs.
“You analyzed all of this and even created a report?”
“Yes. I was able to do it because many people around me helped. It didn't take long.”
“I see. Good work, both of you. Go have your meal.”
“Ah, I've already eaten.”
“I had breakfast too.”
The two of them were at ease.
They had already eaten, finished compiling the surveys, and their faces were fresh and clean.
“Alright. You may go.”
“Yes, Senior!”
Watching how smoothly Team A and Team C had handled everything, Tae-seok couldn’t help sighing. Was that why? The words just popped out of his mouth.
“Guiding Senior, I’ll help with the compilation.”
“Ah, would you? You haven't eaten yet.”
“It's alright. I ate a lot last night. Should I do it like A Team? Or like Team C?”
“The format doesn’t matter. We still need to add the results from the remaining eleven rooms anyway, so just compile the ones we have as Team A did. I’ll go collect the rest myself.”
Hearing his words, Tae-seok stated his own opinion.
“Just a moment. Since we know which eleven rooms they are, I think we can just call them on their cell phones. Could you provide us with their phone numbers?”
“Ah, that would work. Let’s do that. That’ll be faster.”
“Yes.”
The task was finished in an instant. After sending a text to the people in the eleven rooms asking them to submit their questionnaires to the conference room by 8 a.m., everyone brought them in as requested.
Tae-seok thought to himself.
‘If they had just sent a text message beforehand, this would have been finished already. They couldn’t come up with such a simple solution just because the broadcast system was broken?’
The Guiding Senior, who had saved time thanks to Tae-seok’s suggestion, grinned.
“Tae-seok.”
“Yes.”
“Corporate life is quite something, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“It would be great if everyone were competent, but there’s always someone who isn’t. This happens even after we’ve filtered them through interviews. But it’s okay. We’ve weeded one out here at the new employee training center.”
“……”
“Anyway, sorry about this. Looks like we’ll have to skip breakfast today.”
Tae-seok shook his head, accepting his apology.
“It’s no big deal. Ah, would you like this?”
Tae-seok offered him a grain-based energy bar, a substitute for breakfast.
The Guiding Senior’s face brightened.
“Hehe, do you eat these often?”
“Occasionally.”
“I guess I’ll have this for breakfast today, just as you suggested, Tae-seok. Thanks, I’ll enjoy this.”
“Not at all.”
That morning.
At a gathering of everyone from Building B, the Guiding Senior called Tae-seok to the front.
Tae-seok, having no idea why, went up when he was called.
As Tae-seok stood before everyone, all eyes were on him.
Then, the Guiding Senior began to speak.
“Fellow Elseong men, by my authority, I am appointing Kim Tae-seok as the new team leader of Building B. Any objections?”
Just then, a message appeared.
[General Quest: Become the Team Leader has been completed.]
[You have received 5 Points as a reward.]
[Loot: You have obtained 20 Shop Points.]
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