Survive! Gwanggong!

There was only so much Gwak Seon-woo could do to ignore the system’s strange messages. As he barely managed to fix his tattered clothes and head to work, the voice in his head kept insisting on pushing certain emotions onto him.

Gwak Seon-woo could barely remember what Seo Eun-jae’s voice sounded like, let alone his smile—or even what he looked like. But after listening to the system’s constant droning, he started to wonder, Was that really the case? It was practically brainwashing at this point. He had no idea why the system was making such a fuss, but he decided to just let it be.

By the time he finally arrived at the company, he was already about thirty minutes late. He was worried that he might have to write up an explanation for his tardiness, but then he found out that Gwanggong was actually the company’s CEO. That meant he could show up whenever he wanted without getting scolded by any higher-ups. So, he really was a chaebol heir parachuted straight into this position.

Even though he was well aware of this, walking into the lobby still made him feel a bit self-conscious. Trying to act as natural as possible, he held his head high and strode in confidently. Soon enough, a stranger approached him and started speaking. Judging by how they were listing off today’s schedule while walking beside him, they were probably his secretary. To avoid making it obvious that he had no idea who they were, Gwak Seon-woo simply avoided eye contact and gave a nonchalant nod.

Just then, he heard the sound of heels clicking against the floor from a distance. He turned his head instinctively to see who was approaching—but his neck wouldn’t move.

The system’s voice rang out.

Now the damn thing was even dictating his posture. Since he wasn’t particularly curious about whoever was coming, he decided to just give up on turning his head and continued staring ahead with a cool facade.

A soft chuckle came from close by.

“Good morning. What’s with the late arrival today?”

The words could’ve come off as sarcastic, but the man’s voice was genuinely warm and friendly.

This time, when Gwak Seon-woo tried to turn his head, it moved just fine. Since the other person had greeted him first, it seemed that looking back was now permitted.

Standing beside him was a man as pleasant-looking as his voice. His chocolate-colored hair and bright smile were particularly striking. Gwak Seon-woo had no idea who he was, but considering that he had greeted someone who hadn’t even bothered to look at him, they must’ve been at least somewhat acquainted.

As he debated whether to say, Yeah, good morning, or Yes, good morning, a set of choices suddenly appeared before his eyes.

▶ “Quit being a nuisance and get lost.”

▶ “That smile of yours is disgustingly vulgar.”

▶ “You must have nothing better to do, seeing as you’re wasting time greeting me.”

‘No… I mean, he was just saying hello…’

Shocked by the state of the choices, Gwak Seon-woo frantically searched for an alternative, but the merciless system remained silent. He had assumed they were on good terms, but maybe not.

It seemed Gwanggong really hated this man. Still, no matter how bad their relationship was, these were the only responses he could give to someone who had greeted him so amicably? Whoever this guy was, he had approached first and even had a friendly-looking smile. That only made Seon-woo feel worse.

What was the least rude option? After some deliberation, he chose the third one.

“You must have nothing better to do, seeing as you’re wasting time greeting me.”

Wait, that was even harsher than the original choice!

Seon-woo was even more flustered than before, but instead of showing any signs of panic, his lips curled into an icy smirk. Meanwhile, the system chimed in again, seemingly impressed as it increased his score—only adding to his frustration. Was it mocking him or what?

Watching the other man’s face twist into a cold expression, Seon-woo swallowed his guilt.

‘I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!’

The points he had just gained instantly dropped. At this point, Seon-woo wasn’t even exasperated anymore—he was reaching a state of Zen-like acceptance. He let out an unconscious sigh. Unlike all the other words that refused to leave his mouth, a sigh came out effortlessly.

That only made things worse.

The man’s already rigid face grew even frostier.

“Hah… Right. As if this is anything new,” he muttered sharply before striding past Seon-woo with long, determined steps.

At this point, Seon-woo felt like crying.

At this rate, he was going to be at odds with everyone in the world. He had never been particularly sociable before becoming Gwanggong, but having few close friends and having everyone actively hate him were two very different things. If this continued, he wouldn’t be surprised if someone stabbed him in the street one day.

But… thinking about it, he could sort of understand why Gwanggong ended up this way.

“If I’d spent my entire life in some pitch-black house, only taking cold showers and never getting to eat good food, I’d probably have a twisted personality too…”

Feeling thoroughly disheartened, Seon-woo sighed again as he stepped into the elevator.

Just then, the system’s voice echoed in his head.

<[!] Character information has been updated. Would you like to view it?>

“Yes.”

“What was that, Director?”

Thinking it might be useful to gather some information, he responded without hesitation—only to realize he had spoken out loud.

His secretary, standing beside him, immediately turned to ask what he meant. Now fully aware that he had just blurted into thin air like a lunatic, Seon-woo swallowed his embarrassment and quickly corrected himself.

“Nothing.”

Thankfully—or maybe not—the Gwanggong Points didn’t decrease. Instead, a character information window popped up in front of him.

▶ Gwak Seon-woo (View)
▶ Seo Eun-jae (View)
▶ Gwak Seung-hyeon (View)

「Gwak Seon-woo」

Main Gong
Keywords: Gwanggong, Chaebol Gong, Handsome Gong, Obsessive Gong, Cold-blooded Gong

Blessed with a godlike face and a ruthless personality. Has no warmth in his personal tastes and rarely smiles. A competent workaholic who has no interest in anything outside of work. After meeting Seo Eun-jae, he begins to learn what it means to love someone.

「Seo Eun-jae」

Main Uke
Keywords: Ordinary Uke, Kind Uke, Cheerful Uke, Office Worker Uke

At first glance, he seems average, but upon closer look, he possesses a neat and refreshing appearance. While working at Gwak Seon-woo’s company, he happens to cross paths with him. Despite Seon-woo’s distrust of people, Eun-jae shows him warm kindness and teaches him the meaning of love.

「Gwak Seung-hyeon」

Sub Gong
Keywords: Flirtatious Gong, Carefree Gong, Kind Gong, Tragic Gong

Gwak Seon-woo’s cousin, but they don’t share a single drop of blood. Because of that, he is never truly acknowledged and deliberately acts like a carefree playboy. He harbors an inferiority complex toward Gwak Seon-woo and initially takes an interest in Seo Eun-jae out of rivalry, but eventually begins to develop genuine feelings.

“Honestly… I have no idea what any of this means.”

Even after reading through everything, it still felt like a completely foreign world to him. If anything, he was even more confused than before. But at least now, he had some idea of what was going on.

So that guy from earlier—Seo Eun-jae—was supposedly Gwanggong’s fated partner. No wonder the system had been forcing all those emotions on him. He had expected to run into him again, but he hadn’t realized he actually worked at the same company.

And judging by the information, the friendly guy he just met must’ve been Gwak Seung-hyeon. That would explain why he had spoken so casually—he was family.

At first, Seon-woo had assumed Gwanggong was just a jerk who lashed out at good people for no reason, but there actually seemed to be some backstory behind it. The fact that Seung-hyeon wasn’t biologically related suggested some secret birth origins situation. On top of that, they were fated to be love rivals. That at least made the hostility make a little more sense.

But unlike what the system was trying to brainwash him into believing, Seon-woo felt absolutely nothing for Seo Eun-jae. Instead, he was more concerned about Gwanggong’s disastrous social skills.

When he finally arrived at his office, Seon-woo was hit with three waves of shock.

First, the sheer size of the office.

Second, the elegant nameplate that read “CEO Gwak Seon-woo.”

And third, the interior design, which—just like his house—was completely devoid of color, entirely in black and white.

The work itself was no joke either. Even though this was inside a game, the tasks turned out to be far more complicated than expected.

As expected of a CEO, the number of documents requiring his approval was overwhelming. He couldn’t help but wonder—was it really okay for him to just sign off on all this however he pleased?

“Changing an Indian contractor for the heavy industries subsidiary? Am I really allowed to stamp this?”

At first, Seon-woo tried to read through every document carefully, but he quickly grew exhausted. Gwanggong—the original owner of this body—might lose his mind over this level of negligence, but at the end of the day, no matter what he did in this body, the real Gwanggong wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing about it.

And so, he continued stamping the documents mechanically. That was when the system’s voice chimed in again.

Seon-woo, who hadn’t eaten anything and had only fueled himself with bitter coffee, honestly couldn’t care less about whether some NPC in this world was committing tax evasion. He tried to stamp the document and move on, but strangely, his hand wouldn’t budge.

The system’s forceful intervention was at it again.

“For fuck’s sake…!”

Suppressing a deep sigh, he reluctantly pulled out the document that had caught his eye.

It seemed that some guy named Gwak Sang-cheol had set up an unnecessary foundation as a front to embezzle company funds.

And just like that, Seon-woo found himself unwittingly tangled up in a chaebol corruption scandal. He was admittedly a bit taken aback, but even as he processed it, the system continued manipulating his emotions without mercy.

“Haa…“

Forced into exhaling a weary sigh, Seon-woo shook his head. Then, against his will, he summoned his secretary.

“Secretary Lee.”

“Yes, Director? What can I do for you?”

At this point, he didn’t really care anymore—he figured the system would just make him deal with it one way or another. But the moment the secretary stepped up to his desk, something far beyond his expectations appeared before him.

Three new choices blinked mockingly in front of him:

▶ “Haa… Cancel my lunch reservation today.”

▶ “Huu… Cancel my lunch reservation today.”

▶ “Haah… Cancel my lunch reservation today.”

“This is fucking insane.”

Seon-woo screamed internally.

The only difference between the three options was how he sighed before saying the exact same thing. The glowing choices shimmered, almost taunting him.

The worst part? He had been desperately looking forward to lunch. Having skipped breakfast and downed nothing but bitter coffee on an empty stomach, he had been counting the hours until he could finally eat. But now, that last hope was being ripped away from him.

He tried his best to resist, saying nothing in an attempt to fight back, but the system kept pushing him.

▶ “Haa… Cancel my lunch reservation today.”

▶ “Huu… Cancel my lunch reservation today.”

▶ “Haah… Cancel my lunch reservation today.”

With clenched teeth, Seon-woo barely managed to force out the words.

“Haa… Cancel my lunch reservation… today…”

“Fine… At this rate, I’ll just starve to death.”

His defeated thoughts had nowhere to go.

With a heavy heart, Gwak Seon-woo buried his face in the pile of documents.