The World Turned into a Game After I Woke up

The Sunbin Group’s special recruiting program was aiming to hire two hundred people by the end, but over seventy-five thousand people had applied. Everyone wanted to work at the Sunbin Group. It was not only the largest corporation of South Korea, but also one of the largest in the global market. Heck, just being employed by the Sunbin Group could bring someone up to top rank on matchmaking sites.

The competition to get hired by the Sunbin Group was as high as 375 to 1. Since the available positions of the program were all white-collar jobs, just about all applicants were all fresh graduates straight out of SKY {Seoul, Korea, and Yonsei Universities}. The HR team that ran the program had members who were graduates of not only SKY, but also Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and other top universities around the globe. Song Daechul didn’t want to leave the recruitment process to computer programs, saying that it wasn’t right to ignore the potential recruits’ hard work.

“Man, I’m about to lose it. It’s going to take forever to check each application,” Lee Woogeun said as he tousled his hair in frustration.

“Ha… what can we do about it? If they tell us to do it, we do it. If they tell us to jump, we ask how high,” Kim Jongmin, another member of the HR team, replied, just as frustrated. They weren’t the only two at their wits’ end. Everyone on the same team was using the same archaic method during the 21st century, where technology reigned.

But no one else voiced their complaints too loudly. Song Daechul had told them to think of it as welcoming new members to the family, and that computers didn’t have the ability to find the diamonds in the rough.

“Diamonds, my ass. No one goes from rags to riches anymore. That well dried up ages ago.”

“Dude, you’re too loud.”

“Ahem…” Lee Woogeun looked around before quieting himself. As much as he didn’t like the chairman’s orders, he wasn’t brave enough to go against them.

And so, the Sunbin Group’s HR team prepared themselves to work overtime for the diamond in the rough their beloved chairman wanted so much. There were only six days left until they were going to stop accepting applications.

——

Mexico…

José Alejandro sat down in front to me with a calm and collected expression, but I could clearly see he was trembling. It was only normal for a mortal.

“If the NCR cartel suddenly disappears, it’s only obvious that another cartel will take its place, right?”

“Well… I… guess…” José struggled to reply as his voice trembled too much.

“Ugh, whatever. Hugo, right? You answer my question.” Unlike José and the other lieutenants of the NCR cartel, Hugo did not tremble in fear, nor did he avoid my eyes.

“Yes, sir, you are correct. The NCR cartel may control about sixty percent of Mexico, but once we’re gone, the Valentino cartel that controls twenty-two percent of the country will take our place. Those guys will do everything in their power to assume total control.” Unlike José, Hugo did not hesitate to answer.

“Ha… I suppose you’re right.” I knew that the world wasn’t pretty. Cut off the head of a hydra and another will grow to take its place. Replace it with a good guy, and soon he’ll become a snake, as well.

“Fine, I’ll let the NCR cartel live. But I want you to ease up on your activities. Whether it’s murder, kidnapping, drugs, or violence, lower all your activities by three percent every year. And try to increase your territory to weaken other cartels.”

“…”

“…”

“Yes sir!” Only Hugo replied. José and the other lieutenants were all stunned into silence.

I pulled my Harrier out of thin air in an instant and stabbed José in the chest. “Mana Conversion – Fire.” José was killed before he could scream, and his body burned away, leaving only ashes in his place.

The other lieutenants and the Mexican soldiers all stared at what just happened with mouths agape but Hugo still remained calm.

“I’ll leave the cartel in your hands, Hugo.”

“Thank you, sir! Your wish is my command!”

“Anyone against my decision, step forth.”

“…”

“I’ll take your silence that you accept,” I said as I got up from my seat, prompting the cartel lieutenants to do the same. I walked outside, followed by everyone else. All I could see in front of me were the vast fields of poppy plants, with small shacks off to the side where the workers were supposed to live. I didn’t like the sight of it all and wanted to erase it all. It would also make a great example.

“Scorching Rage,” I whispered and pointed forward. Soon, the giant spear appeared in the sky and came crashing down on the poppy fields. A deafening crash filled the air, louder than the tanks from earlier. All that was left was a massive crater, big and deep enough to hold a lake.

“…”

“Ah… much better. I didn’t like the smell of poppy burning. Now, if it rains, you’ll have a nice lake to enjoy.” And right on cue, it began to rain, but there was not a single cloud in sight.

‘Hehehe.’ I suddenly heard Earth laugh in my ear. I just couldn’t understand it. If it could make it rain this easily, it could just as easily get rid of its radiation without my help. But at least it made an impact.

“Oh…ay dios mio…”

“We’ll… do as you say.”

“Please… forgive us.” Every single lieutenant, officer, and even the lowly workers of the cartel bowed deeply to me.

I only came to Mexico for Pedro to repay what he did for me, but things were starting to get out of hand. I even ended up killing José. I struggled greatly with myself if I really should have stabbed him with my spear, but in the end, I knew I had to. I may not be their God, but I was the owner of the Earth they lived on. Killing one person to better the lives of thousands or millions was a necessary sacrifice.

“I’ll be watching you,” I said, before jumping high into the air. Then, when I was high enough, I spoke into the empty air before me. “I want to fly.”

I didn’t have the actual ability to fly, although I could make it look like I could. But I wanted to fly, thanks to Earth.

‘Ugh. You’re too heavy.’

“Let’s go back. I still need to receive the letter of recommendation for my application.”

——

I was only a graduate of a vocational high school, and I also graduated at the bottom twenty percent of my class. I knew that it was impossible to get hired by the Sunbin Group with just those specifications. I wouldn’t even get accepted as an intern. Hell, not even a mid-range corporation would take me. I had just turned thirty, as well. What I needed was a letter of recommendation from someone that even the Sunbin Group couldn’t ignore. That letter had to come from either the Shire Group, America’s richest corporation specializinig in petrochemistry and oil, or from Baden al Nayan, the president of the UAE.

There were other places I could go to, like Egypt or Europe, and I knew I could get their help. I knew what their circumstances were after all those years I had spent closely with them during the Otadolon stage and on the Judge’s Continent. I had so many places to go in so little time. They weren’t going to believe me right away, but then I could just show them my abilities. I had never intended to keep them a secret anyway.

——

The Sunbin Group’s HR team continued to accept applications until the very last day and made the final count of the applicants. They had to choose two hundred applicants out of 117,500; a sifting rate of 587 to 1. With all applications sent in, the HR team went to work, spending days sifting through the carbon-copy applications. As important as qualifications were, they needed to find the special someone.

As Lee Woogeun went through his stack of applications as quickly and as carefully as he could, he came across an application, who was only a high school graduate and from a vocational school, at that.

“Tsk. Did he apply as a prank? He’s thirty years old; doesn’t he have anything better to do?” There was still a sense of hierarchy in society, and businesses were a good example of that. Age was very important to corporations. No one wanted to accept new hires that were much older than them. Lee Woogeun placed the application into the rejected pile immediately, not thinking there was going to be anything more to it. But this one was stapled to several more sheets of paper, each filled to the margins with writing.

“What the hell is this?” Lee Woogeun flipped through the pages in annoyance. As average as the applicant’s qualifications were, the introduction was just as lacking.

“Tsk tsk tsk. He could have done a quick internet search to find proper ways to write an introduction. Huh?” Lee Woogeun blinked when he came to the specialties section. This applicant wrote that he could speak not only Korean but English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Russian, and Turkish as well.

“Is this guy insane? Who does he think he is to play a prank like this on the Sunbin Group?”

“What’s wrong?” asked Kim Jongmin.

“Some crazy guy who only came out of high school sent in an application, and it’s a real eyesore. He barely has an education, didn’t even get foreign language training, and he says he’s fluent in ten languages. Ten! Okay, eleven if you count Korean.”

“What? Even if he was a language genius, it’s almost impossible to be fluent in eleven languages at once.”

“But that’s what he wrote. Crazy bastard, wasting our time like this.” Pissed, Lee Woogeun threw Lee Jiwon’s application back into the rejected pile. He didn’t want to look at it anymore.

Kim Jongmin then picked up the application.

“What’s up?” asked Lee Woogeun.

“Nothing. I’m just curious who would actually lie when a company like the Sunbin Group could easily pick up on a lie that blatant.”

“He probably did it on purpose. A normal person would have just written two and would have at least had a good chance to get a first-round interview. Someone like that has no shame.”

“Alright, alright. You don’t need to get so mad,” Kim Jongmin said, brushing off his coworker as he continued to flip through Lee Jiwon’s application. This person really didn’t have that many qualifications. Kim Jongmin actually thought this guy was pretty brave to go through with it, even if he didn’t expect Lee Jiwon to pass. As Kim Jongmin scanned through the languages that were written, he began to understand how his coworker felt. They were too busy sifting through thousands of applications to find a prank like this funny. Still, Kim Jongmin continued to flip through the pages. The application was thicker than the others. He then came across the letter of recommendation that was stapled behind the introduction.

“Do applicants send letters of rec these days? They’re usually detrimental.” In the past, people only sent in letters of recommendation if they had some serious backing in the company or the government. Now, companies didn’t want to accept applications with letters of rec anymore. There were too many cases where they ended up passing on potential stellar employees just to satisfy some big wig.

“Dude, he’s got more than a few. Does he not know what letters of rec are?” There were still times where letters of recommendation helped make applicants stand out, usually detailing the applicants’ real world skills and personality that wouldn’t be well-explained in a simple application. As such, such letters weren’t written by anyone.

“He really is crazy. Or maybe he’s just dumb.” Kim Jongmin looked at the first letter. The first thing that surprised him was that this letter was written completely in English. He suspected that maybe Lee Jiwon had used Google Translate to try and pass it off, but Kim Jongmin quickly realized that whoever wrote the letter was well-educated and a native speaker. Kim Jongmin looked at the header, and saw the logo of America’s Shire Group.

“This is complete fraud.” Lying on a resume and application was fine. But forging a letter of recommendation was considered fraud and highly illegal, especially since the name America’s richest corporation was used. The letter even had the famous Daniel Miller’s signature down at the bottom.

Kim Jongmin clicked his tongue and flipped to the next letter. “Ha…it gets worse.” He had never seen the signature of a president of a foreign nation, let alone on a new hire’s application. The signature belonged to Baden al Nayan, the president of the UAE. Kim Jongmin tore out the letter and looked over it. The letter’s border looked like it was gilded. He scratched the gold lining and saw that it left a small imprint.

“Is that real gold?” It was well-known that the UAE gilded their official papers, so Kim Jongmin wasn’t so sure now. Well, he knew that everything was a lie, but he just couldn’t believe that anyone would actually go through this extent for a lie.

He read the next letter. This letter was from Egypt’s Asyut Group, who owned the Bank of Alexandria and was the producer of the eighty percent of the world’s natural gas. The letter behind that was from the Chloe Group, Australia’s largest corporation. There were two others after that as well, both from equally famous corporations.

“What…” Kim Jongmin looked over the six letters again and again, trying to find any hint of forgery. But each letter was written on immaculate stationary and spoke highly of Lee Jiwon. But it was still hard to believe that they were real.

Kim Jongmin laughed. “If just one of these is real, we’d have one hell of a new hire on our hands.” He picked up the letter from the one from the Shire Group and looked at the international number written by the header.

“There’s even an international number. This guy went all out.” Kim Jongmin took out his phone and dialed the number. He knew that it was fake, but he wanted to know for sure. Then, someone picked up and answered in perfect English.

“Good morning. Shire Group corporate office. Grace speaking. How may I help you?”

“…” If this applicant really was insane enough to prepare this far, he’d actually be a psychopath. But was it possible to forge an international number just for a prank? Kim Jongmin broke out in a cold sweat. Even though the office he was in had the A/C on at full blast, his back was suddenly drenched. He realized that this probably wasn’t a prank. No, it definitely was real.

He quickly hung up and gathered all of the pages from Lee Jiwon’s application. He couldn’t make the final decision on this new hire. With the application in hand, he quickly ran over to his boss, Yoo Kyungsup.

“Hey, Jongmin! Where are you taking that trash to?” Lee Woogeun asked, but Kim Jongmin didn’t even turn around.