Chapter 3: Mr. Kim Jang-bung, please pass this sign along

Manager Park’s voice cut through the office chatter.

“Manager Kim Jangbung, please pass this cover on to him.”

Jangbung looked up from his desk, confused.

“Huh? Which artist’s cover is this?”

Manager Park handed him a flash drive.

“Open the file and tell me. It’s a black-haired alien from another world.”

Jangbung plugged in the drive and opened the file, his expression clouding.

“Wouldn’t the artist be a little disappointed with this?”

Manager Park shrugged, unfazed.

“This design was finalized through internal discussions within the art team. Please pass it on well and don’t offend the artist with nice words.”

Jangbung shook his head, standing up.

“I don’t think this is right. I’ll go to the art team for a moment.”

The art team’s office was cluttered with sketches and monitors.

“Uh, Manager Jangbung, what’s going on?” Manager Park asked, looking up from his tablet.

Jangbung held up the flash drive.

“Manager Park, I have something to discuss with you regarding the cover for ‘Geummeow’…”

Manager Park raised an eyebrow.

“Huh? Didn’t you already pass it on to Manager Choi?”

Jangbung sighed, rubbing his temple.

“It seems my email with my opinion about the cover was misdelivered.”

Manager Park leaned back, crossing his arms.

“Oh, Manager Kim sent your opinion about the cover for ‘Geummeow’ last time? The art team saw it all.”

Jangbung’s eyes widened slightly.

“You saw it all?”

Manager Park nodded, scrolling through his tablet.

“Yeah, I think it would be good to make the pose of the champ character a little comical, like a muscular savage with exposed upper body, scars, long hair, a sword as a weapon, and a pose called Kui Kui.”

Jangbung’s voice was flat.

“You really saw it all.”

Manager Park grinned, setting the tablet down.

“Okay, I compiled all this and gave it to the intern who just came in.”

Jangbung’s jaw tightened.

“An intern? Even so, it’s one of our company’s signature pieces…”

Manager Park waved a hand dismissively.

“If all the signboards are drawn by assistant managers and managers, what will the kids underneath do? Since an intern just arrived, I gave him his work to see what he was capable of. He said he was good at drawing women, so I drew his face from behind, and he said he couldn’t draw scars, so I removed them. Muimui? Anyway, he said that pose was difficult, so I just put my hand down and did it.”

Jangbung’s frown deepened.

“Even so, I don’t think the author will be happy with this cover.”

Manager Park leaned forward, his tone sharp.

“We’ll have to see it to know. And the author didn’t give us an opinion on the cover anyway.”

Jangbung’s voice was quiet but firm.

“We decided to give it to him unilaterally…”

Manager Park cut him off.

“Manager Kim, you’re being too wordy.”

Jangbung lowered his head.

“I’m sorry…”

Manager Park sighed, softening slightly.

“The manager told me to draw the cover, so I drew it, but it wasn’t part of this month’s work originally, right? It’s not like we promised to hold some big event or anything. It’s just a show of sincerity because we worked hard on the series. We can’t invest a huge amount of time and manpower in something like that, right?”

Jangbung nodded slowly.

“Yes, I think I was short-sighted.”

Manager Park tapped his desk.

“Yeah, and even I think this is a bit poorly drawn. I shouldn’t sign this internship. Anyway, let’s try to persuade the writer and focus on our work, so let’s finish work at 9 o’clock today.”

Jangbung stood, gripping the flash drive.

“Okay… Then I’ll make sure to convey that…”