Chapter 41: The Manager of Slave Labor

[Party] INFP: First, I can’t not talk about Gilma hyung’s group.

[Party] INFP: Gilma is Cheonjon hyung right now, isn’t he?

[Party] INFP: But when it comes to influence, Woong noona’s word carries more weight.

[Party] Cheonjon: Even in the main server rankings, noona’s higher.

“Hm. So are you saying Woong favors Jelly?”

If that’s the case, it made immediate sense.

It would also be the most plausible reason for why Jelly acted out.

[Party] Cheonjon: Even though Jelly looks like that

[Party] Cheonjon: She’s crazy good at her job

[Party] Ariel: Yeah, she’s a hunting machine

“Oh, I agree with that…”

I’ve been partying with her at night lately, so I know.

She’s terrible at PK, but she really is amazing at hunting.

[Party] INFP: That’s why Woong noona dotes on her

[Party] Proposal: Honestly, I’d do the same lol

[Party] INFP: What, 12 years? They’ve played together for over 10 years

[Party] INFP: And ever since noona’s family expanded their business, Jelly’s been managing all their characters and co-accounts

[Party] Cheonjon: The main owners just blatantly order her around lol

Listening more, it seemed that Cheonjon and Woong had each had two main server sub-accounts managed by others since ages ago.

Among them, Jelly had held her position the longest, did her job well, and naturally ended up above the other sub-accounts.

[Party] Proposal: Whoa, what, she’s like a general manager?

[Party] Ariel: Lololol yeah, that’s right

[Party] Happy: Did she lord it over people because of that?

[Party] Cheonjon: I was Cheonjon hyung’s daytime sub-account for about two years.

[Party] Cheonjon: Before I came, the sub-accounts couldn’t even last half a year and kept getting replaced

[Party] Proposal: That’s a high turnover rate

[Party] Ariel: lolololololol

[Party] Cheonjon: They all got fired for not doing their jobs, but from what I hear

[Party] Cheonjon: Jelly kept nitpicking, meddling, and nagging until people quit

[Party] Cheonjon: It’s not like she’s paying their salaries, seriously—

[Party] Ro: So S-nim, you lasted a long time, then

[Party] Cheonjon: I was already close with hyung and noona before becoming a sub

[Party] Cheonjon: So Jelly didn’t act like that to me directly

“But if the turnover was that bad, wouldn’t the main owners have known? Did they just let it slide?”

Well, maybe if they were overly fond of Jelly, they would.

But even so, can you really overlook things just because you’re fond of someone? I started to wonder.

Even Ro and Proposal began to ask, “Just how close are they to look the other way?”

And then—

[Party] Cheonjon: Even if they know, they just leave it

[Party] Cheonjon: That’s how efficient Jelly is

[Party] Cheonjon: Low wage + extra work all fine with her

“What does that even mean?”

[Party] Cheonjon: Do you know what her main server nickname is?

[Party] Cheonjon: 100

[Party] Cheonjon: She’s called 100 because she works as a sub for 100 a month

[Party] Ro: What the—

[Party] Proposal: What the—

[Party] Happy: ????

I almost lost my mind for a second.

Sure, everyone has their own circumstances when it comes to salary.

But considering the average economic value and Jelly’s login frequency and workload… it was just completely unreasonable.

[Party] INFP: She probably gets a bit more now?

[Party] Cheonjon: Even so, only a 20–30 increase

[Party] Proposal: Isn’t that basically slave labor??

[Party] Proposal: Even a part-timer at a convenience store would make more than that, right?

[Party] Cheonjon: That’s why hyung and noona like her lol

[Party] Cheonjon: Cheap labor, high loyalty

[Party] Ariel: For Jelly, she gets to play the game she loves, wield power, and get paid for it, so it’s even better lol

[Party] Ro: Dang dang dang…

It was so shocking I couldn’t say a word for a while.

If I listened longer, I felt like I’d hear even spicier stories—possibly about S’s personal life, since he was a fellow sub-account. None of us dared to ask further.

[Party] Cheonjon: Anyway, that’s why Jelly acts out

[Party] Cheonjon: She’s always done the deputy guildmaster role in the main server, so

[Party] Cheonjon: She’ll definitely do the same here

[Party] Ariel: She already is lol

[Party] Ro: Then what about the main server characters?

[Party] Happy: Right, if the main sub-account is here, who’s handling the main server?

[Party] INFP: The main server is so stagnant these days

[Party] INFP: It’s in such a slump that hyung and noona are sorting out their characters

[Party] Cheonjon: Seeing as Jelly’s here, they’re probably done already?

“Wow. Looks like they’re just settling in on Another.”

[Party] Ariel: She’ll rule the Karma Guild now

[Party] Cheonjon: Yeah, unless another faction pushes her out of the main server

[Party] Cheonjon: As long as it’s under the Karma name, Jelly has all the real power

[Party] Proposal: That much?

[Party] INFP: Gilma hyung already told me in advance

[Party] INFP: From now on, Jelly’s in charge of their characters, so he told me to help her

“Huh. That just means Jelly’s the next guildmaster, right? That’s messed up. No matter how close you are… Wouldn’t it be better to promote the existing vice-guildmaster? Isn’t it rude to the previous vice-guildmaster?”

Ro and Proposal agreed that it was unfair.

[Party] INFP: I mean, my relationship with her is kind of ambiguous, so I can’t really say anything to Jelly

[Party] INFP: Anyway, eventually the vice-guildmaster role will be handed to someone from the main server

[Party] INFP: So I’m just going along with it as things go

[Party] Proposal: Seriously, that’s so wrong

[Party] Proposal: Is that why Jelly kept you in check, INFP-nim??

[Party] Proposal: I know it’s awkward to say in front of you, but

[Party] Proposal: She’s really blatant about it

“Ah, Proposal-nim… You’re so straightforward.”

It was a bit chilling, but thankfully INFP didn’t mind.

[Party] INFP: Jelly doesn’t really like me, haha

[Party] Proposal: Why not??

[Party] Cheonjon: In the main server, INFP hyung briefly managed guild funds

[Party] Cheonjon: Jelly tried to get in on it and got hammered

[Party] Cheonjon: She’s hated him openly ever since lol

It sounded like an RMT incident.

As with any game—not just Monster World—even if RMT is banned, deals happen secretly.

Even in Another, a guild called Hana got in trouble for siphoning guild funds, so it’d be possible in the main server too.

There, there are countless active guilds.

[Party] Proposal: The more I hear, the dizzier I get

[Party] Ro: This is something Cheonjon-nim and Woong-nim need to sort out

[Party] Cheonjon: I wish they’d look at it objectively too

[Party] Cheonjon: But they’re always busy with work

[Party] Cheonjon: And the guild members never think it’s a big deal, so it’s hard for me to bring up

[Party] Cheonjon: It’s just like that, lol

Listening to it all, it seems most of the existing guild members are closer to Jelly.

Since INFP’s a bit introverted, it might look like everyone’s friendly on the surface, but they’re not actually that close…

[Party] Proposal: So they’re all in cahoots, then

[Party] INFP: Okay, let’s drop it

Maybe because things were getting a little too factional, INFP cut it off.

[Party] INFP: This conversation just happened on impulse

[Party] INFP: But I didn’t mean for it to turn into blatant gossip

[Party] INFP: Honestly, it’s embarrassing for us, too, to talk about our own

[Party] INFP: But I shared this because I trust the three of you are independent types

[Party] INFP: I also don’t want you to be uncomfortable and stop having fun

[Party] INFP: Well, to be really honest…

[Party] INFP: Since you all agreed Jelly’s not great, I thought this was my chance

[Party] INFP: I was being a bit petty, tattling like this, haha

[Party] INFP: Anyway, about the Jelly issue

[Party] INFP: I’ll try talking with Gilma hyung again

He politely asked us to let today’s conversation just flow by lightly.

He also told us, as always, to keep having fun as we liked.

“Is he worried we’ll get dragged into their mess?”

Hearing him say that, INFP really seemed like a saint.

Of course, it wouldn’t be right to judge by just one side of the story.

But thinking about what Jelly did earlier, and the guild atmosphere when ‘Pungma’ showed up…

“Honestly, INFP seems like the normal one here.”

[Party] Proposal: Sorry, I was just being nosy

[Party] Proposal: Don’t worry, none of us are the type to blab

[Party] Proposal: And to be honest, I really don’t like Jelly, so I’m on your side, INFP-nim

[Party] Happy: lolololololol

[Party] Ro: lolol

INFP, Cheonjon, and Ariel all laughed at the same time.

[Party] Ariel: We’re secret-sharing buddies now

[Party] INFP: Feels like we’ve gotten closer, haha

[Party] Cheonjon: Honestly, I like the three of you

[Party] Cheonjon: You’re all beasts at PK, lololololololol

[Party] Proposal: Aw shucks

[Party] Cheonjon: Let’s all be even closer from now on

[Party] Cheonjon: Heart

[Party] INFP: I think we’re already pretty close, honestly…

[Party] Ariel: Once you gang up on someone together, you’re real friends

[Party] Cheonjon: That’s true

[Party] Happy: lolololololol

[Party] Proposal: So from now on, about the server or guild atmosphere

[Party] Proposal: Is it okay to just ask everything? lolololol

[Party] Ariel: As if you weren’t going to ask anyway

[Party] Ro: Calm down, hyung

As always, Proposal is just… the real deal.

[Party] INFP: Hm

[Party] INFP: Now that I’ve spilled the trickiest thing, I’ve got nothing left to hide

Hm… that’s true.

[Party] INFP: Actually though

[Party] INFP: Now that I finally got it off my chest, I feel much better

Guess INFP felt wronged about having to hold it in all this time.

[Party] Cheonjon: lololololololol

[Party] Ariel: See, it’s better than just complaining among ourselves

[Party] INFP: Yeah, from now on I’m just going to vent however I feel

[Party] INFP: And ask me anything, anytime

[Party] INFP: I’ll spill everything

[Party] Ariel: lololololololol

Seeing this much more honest side of INFP made me feel kind of proud.

[Party] Proposal: Well, here’s a question right away

[Party] INFP: Ok

[Party] Proposal: Is Pungma coming again?

[Party] INFP: Obviously

[Party] Cheonjon: Brace yourself

[Party] Proposal: Damn it

[Party] Ro: Oof

[Party] Happy: Ah

[Party] Ariel: lolololololol

We talked so much, I lost track of time.

When I checked, it was already past 10:10.

When I finally glanced at the ignored guild chat, the guild war results seemed to be up.

But, well, since the outcome didn’t matter this time, there was no tally like last time.

“Hmm. Maybe the winning guild just gets more money as an extra prize.”

It was disappointing not to have a kill/death ranking, but it couldn’t be helped!

[Party] Happy: Oh right, about the money I borrowed from the guild warehouse last time

[Party] Happy: I should pay it back today

[Party] Proposal: Oh, you still haven’t returned it

[Party] INFP: No no no, it’s fine

“Oh, really?”

[Party] INFP: Everyone’s forgotten by now

[Party] INFP: Just embezzle it

…Looks like INFP has turned to the dark side.