Chapter 10: Kwon Se-ah isn’t Just a Rich Gamer. (2)

Being able to visit the ‘Galactic Train Pop-Up Store’, where everyone had to wait in line, whenever I pleased was truly a good thing.

Honestly, this wasn’t something that could be done just by having a lot of money, right?

It was something only Kwon Se-ah, the youngest daughter of the Hansung Group, could do.

…However, there was a slight ‘minor’ problem.

The ‘way of speaking’ issue that Kwon Si-young had pointed out during our phone call kept bothering me.

“No matter how I think about it, it seems like I know Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul…”

There were no remaining chat logs to confirm it, but her position revealed many facts.

Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul.

This woman was the chief secretary of ‘Hansung Lifestyle’, the company where Kwon Se-ah’s mother was the CEO.

No matter how I thought about it, there was no way Lee Eun-byul and Kwon Se-ah were meeting for the first time.

On the contrary, there was a high possibility that they were ‘closer’ than her cousin, Kwon Si-young.

“Even if it’s not strictly a matter of likability, like being close or uncomfortable… they definitely know each other.”

“If my way of speaking or usual behavior is too different, problems will surely arise.”

In front of Kwon Si-young and my relatives, I had a ‘get out of jail free card’.

There was the sympathy that came from waking up from a coma after a month and the fact that my parents had died.

But now, it would be a little different.

It’s always best to think of the worst in these situations.

Just like during the Kimchi of Love event, when I unnecessarily mentioned various ingredients and got bombarded with civil complaints the next day about using Chinese products with tax money…!

The unimaginable worst can happen at any time!

“If rumors start circulating that I’ve become a completely different person, I might get hospitalized in a mental institution.”

In the first place, I’m the youngest daughter of a chaebol group that manages money.

If my very existence is treated as ‘a woman who went crazy because her parents died’, honestly, I don’t think anything good will come of it.

So, to properly learn about ‘Kwon Se-ah’, I rummaged through the news.

…Honestly, last time, I didn’t know what Kwon Se-ah used to do, so I didn’t think of looking for her ‘interview’ in the news, you know?

I’m not stupid!

How am I supposed to know what kind of person a woman who deletes all her conversation history is?

[The Power of Character IP, as told by Hansung Lifestyle’s Director Kwon Se-ah…]

I clicked on the interview video I found through search.

Kwon Se-ah, who appeared on the screen, was wearing a black suit, and the unique elegance of a young lady was radiating from her.

She was also appropriately wearing a watch, earrings, and a necklace.

It was to the point where I thought I could refer to a few videos like this to choose my outfits for going out in the future.

Unlike me, who didn’t know how to do makeup at all, Kwon Se-ah in the video had perfect makeup.

『Hmm~! So, you see! Unlike what many people are worried about, character IP has truly immense power!!』

『Reporter-nim too… Ah! You see this child, right? Doesn’t she look like a completely soft and squishy jelly? When you look at her, don’t you feel like poking her cheeks and just think she’s incredibly cute, making you smile?』

『The character IP industry has so~ many elements that bring such happiness. Cute, lovely, happy, joyful, sad, touching… When you look at society these days, doesn’t it feel very bleak?』

『The various projects our company is promoting this time contain the desire to present great happiness and diverse emotions to our customers by utilizing characters from various external IPs in addition to our own.』

Kwon Se-ah in the video was the epitome of a young lady exuding an incredibly bright and positive aura.

Her expressions were also incredibly rich, and perhaps due to her experience living abroad, she constantly moved her hands and body while speaking.

She felt like a character that would appear in a foreign animated film.

“…Next time I meet Kwon Si-young, I’ll have to really tense my stomach.”

Even looking at a few other interviews, her tension and cheerfulness remained the same.

…From now on, when I meet someone, do I have to speak brightly like this?

“Just imagining it drains my energy… No, from now on, I should try to talk to myself like Kwon Se-ah as much as possible, no, I should, shouldn’t I?”

I should use the habit of talking to myself out of loneliness in this way.

There’s no harm in acting and speaking according to Kwon Se-ah’s original personality, right?

“But…”

『Ah! You mean this doll, right? Hehe, she’s a child I absolutely~ adore. My mom bought her for me as an elementary school graduation gift, and since then, I’ve kept her by my bedside and slept with her! I have many other dolls too, but…』

The more I watch the interview videos, why do I get this nagging feeling?

I left the room with the computer and returned to the bedroom.

Kwon Se-ah’s bed was very large and neat.

The furniture was also well-placed, but there was one problem I hadn’t even recognized until now.

“…There are no dolls or anything like that… No, there aren’t, are there?”

There are no dolls. The doll she boasted about receiving as a gift from her parents is gone.

…No, the room was so sparsely decorated that I couldn’t believe this was the room of a woman who talked about the character industry or dolls.

***

“I apologize, President Kwon Se-ah. Contrary to my expectations, the entrance was too crowded, causing you trouble.”

The ‘Galactic Train Pop-Up Store’, which occupied a large space on the 1st floor of Hansung Department Store, was incredibly popular.

There were so, so many people that the line had to be extended outside to avoid inconveniencing other customers who came to the department store.

In that situation, I couldn’t enter through the main entrance, so I ended up entering the pop-up store by sneaking in through the warehouse area.

“Hmm…”

I have to talk like Kwon Se-ah…

…Ah, just imagining this in my head is draining my energy.

“It’s to~tally fine. If I had brazenly entered through the main entrance, people would have pointed fingers and it would have been chaotic.”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

“Still, now that I’m here~ on site, I’d like to hear a bit about it… How is it? Is it going well?”

Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul let out a sigh of relief and then hurriedly nodded her head.

“Yes, we are receiving about 500% more visitors than we anticipated.”

“5 times? That’s really joyful news, but I’m worried we might not have enough products prepared. Will there be no problem~?”

‘Isn’t 5 times a miscalculation?’

‘And today isn’t the first day of opening, is it?’

“The purpose of the pop-up store is being clearly achieved, so you don’t need to worry.”

Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul proudly showed off the shelves displaying a multitude of various products.

The pop-up store itself was well-decorated in a very large space, as charmingly as she boasted.

It wasn’t just selling products; I could see they had also created a space in the corner with large monitors where people could experience the game.

But what on earth is that painting on the shelf over there that costs 450,000 won? It certainly looks incredibly large, but does it have that much value?

…Is it a limited edition?!

Should I ask for it?

Since I’m the president, I can have one, right?!

“For the past two days, without a single exception, all items have been sold out.”

I gave a brief bright smile and sent an OK sign with my fingers.

For now, she’s telling me the pop-up store is very successful, but…

…The users are telling a different story, aren’t they? The feelings of the seller and the buyer are bound to be different.

First, I awkwardly took out my smartphone from the handbag I was carrying and accessed the gallery.

[Galactic Train Gallery]

[Is that leak real??? Is clan battle really that hard? (5)]

[F*ck, why is the pop-up store run so shttily? Are their mothers dead? (14)]

[Skip Seele vs Skip next pickup Solomon (4)]

[Is it even possible to buy stuff at this pop-up store? There are so many f*cking Chinese scalpers???]

[This is the Gangnam advance team, f*ck, I think we’re screwed]

[Sigh, fck, this is why you shouldn’t do pop-up stores in f*cking Korea]

“Hmm… The atmosphere seems to~tally not good.”

Even the featured posts are full of profanity, aren’t they?

Is this really going well?

[F*ck, I’m never coming to this shtty pop-up store again.]

Is this right?

I’ve been coming for 3 days, and every day the Chinese guys standing in front sweep up all the goods?

Even now, they’re in front of me, and the smell of mala xiang guo is so strong that tears are streaming down my face.

I don’t think I’ll even get to see the Seele desk mat I want to buy, so I’m f*cking pissed ㅡㅡ

Is this right? Fck, how can they run things so fcking stupidly for 3 days straight???

[Where is that? Gangnam? Sinchon?]

[▶ F*ck, this is Gangnam, is Sinchon the same?]

[▶▶ ㅇㅇ Sinchon too, yesterday the Chinese guys came and swept everything, so everyone in the back was cursing out parents like crazy ㅋㅋ]

[This is why, f*ck, doing pop-up stores is meaningless, I tell you?]

[Can’t they just f*cking sell it online by reservation?]

[▶ Last time Genshin did that, the website crashed and it was chaos ㅋㅋ]

[▶▶ The f*cking resellers bought even more, damn it.]

… …

Is this, helpful for the brand image?

It feels like the image is worsening because of the pop-up store, doesn’t it?

“Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul, please come over here for a moment.”

As I spoke, I pulled Lee Eun-byul’s arm and brought our bodies close.

She showed a rather flustered expression.

“It seems there’s a bit of a problem with our pop-up store’s sales policy. Do you have any intention of revising it?”

“How should we revise it, President?”

“First, please limit purchases to one item per person for any product.”

Lee Eun-byul’s eyes widened in surprise.

“President… if we impose such a limit, there’s a high possibility it will significantly impact product sales…”

“Earlier, Chief Secretary, you spoke about the purpose of this pop-up store, right? Hmm~ The purpose I’m thinking of doesn’t seem to end with the simple monetary profit from selling all the products, you know?”

“Ah…”

“We are currently operating this pop-up store as an IP partner for Galactic Train.

But… if the people who visit here can’t even see the products and all go home empty-handed, rather than helping the IP, in the future…”

“No matter what kind of event we hold, visiting itself will be seen as a waste of time. This company is terrible at offline events. Change the agency company. Public opinion like that will follow us like a scarlet letter, I think.”

“Understood. I will change the purchase policy as you instructed, President, and make an announcement.”

“And~ it’s not that you did anything wrong, Chief Secretary. You know, right? It’s just that my desire for this business to do well is strong.”

Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul suddenly looked at me and chuckled.

“Uh… why, why are you laughing? Did I say something strange?”

“No. I just laughed because it seemed like you’ve overcome your difficulties well.”

So they were close after all.

Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul quickly called an employee and gave a few instructions.

“Oh, and please don’t hoard the products unnecessarily; display them so that as many customers as possible can purchase them.”

“Hmm… We have to open the pop-up store tomorrow too, will that be alright?”

“For products with very low stock, it should be fine if you make an announcement on the official SNS in advance.”

This decision may not be the best.

But at least I won’t hear things like ‘they don’t care at all’!

“Then, let’s see… Shall I do a little shopping too?”

While Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul was busy, I shifted my gaze to the shelves.

Honestly, I’m not interested in things like postcard books, colored paper, multi-cleaners, or acrylic stands.

Should I say these things are too cheap? They don’t give me the feeling of being expensive, precious, or something I want to own at all.

“T-shirt? This has too big a character printed on it… Desk mat? I want one of these… Keyboard? This feels really nice… Acrylic keychain? I don’t have a place to hang it on my smartphone, so pass.”

Should I grab a mug too?

Or maybe I should buy that large hanging scroll I saw earlier?

“President? Is there a problem with the products this time?”

“Hmm? No, no, no. That’s not it.”

“In the future, there will be… guests from China, and~? I’ll have interviews to do, so if I don’t know much about these products, I think I’ll be teased, so I’m thinking of buying some on this occasion.”

“Aah! So that was your thought? If there’s anything you want, please tell me.”

“Then…”

I pointed to the keyboard and mouse I had jotted down in my memo pad, the desk mat with a large print of Seele, the calendar, and finally, the hanging scroll.

“Understood. Will this be enough?”

“Hmm~ For the products I can see right now, this seems to be enough. Or, well, is there anything hidden?”

It was a joke, but Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul nodded.

…Isn’t it wrong if there’s something hidden?

Hello?

“What is it that makes you say that? Isn’t it something I shouldn’t buy?”

“No. Actually, since these products are easily damaged, the Chinese side sent quite a lot of spares.”

“Products that are easily damaged? What are they? Please show me.”

Chief Secretary Lee Eun-byul quickly led me to the warehouse.

And she carefully lifted about 10 white boxes.

“Huh?”

When the box was opened, an amazing figure was nestled inside.

It was the figure of a knight in black armour, and the incredibly detailed armour was split in half, engulfed in mysterious blue flames.

Revealed through the crack was a female knight with golden hair, and her chest was truly large.

It’s even a 40cm figure, huh? It would look good displayed in a glass cabinet somewhere.

…But who is this?

Is it because I haven’t finished the main story?

“…Who is this? Who is she, and why are you hiding 10 of them so carefully?”

“I don’t know the details either, but I understand it’s a product related to the next promotion. Ah… it’s written here. Galactic Train Version 1.1 Promotion—”

“Give this to me! When I do interviews later, wouldn’t it look more sincere if I had something like this in my display case?”

I didn’t know it at the time.

That the figure I just bought would, in the future, be teased as ‘a character you use until the server shuts down’.