Concord The World

A Journey Beyond The Civil Serive Exam

The smartphone’s LCD screen glowed brightly in the dark room.

[Web transmission]

[Unfortunately, you did not pass the final interview this time.]

“Did it fall again?”

I opened the curtains behind the monitor, which were covered with dust, with an indifferent face.

The interior of the small room, about 10 m in size, quickly became bright.

Before I knew it, it was morning.

Looking out the window, I could see people moving busily and cars speeding by.

“Is it time to go out?”

I turned my head and looked at the tightly closed door.

Now is the time to open that door and face the world.

“Let’s close it.”

With one short sentence, I finally finished my studies that had taken me nearly ten years to complete.

I opened the door to the goshiwon and went out.

Came out into the world.

* * *

“How long has it been?”

The expression on Yordan’s face as he poured bir into my glass looked a little awkward.

I know why the guy makes that face.

A long period of studying for the civil service exam can be extremely mentally exhausting.

This is the reason why I have cut off all ties with my friends for so long.

In short, Yordan was angry with me right now.

“So, are you giving up now?”

When I heard the word give up, I felt a little bit wronged.

This is closer to ‘failure’ than giving up.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do from now on?”

“I don’t know either.”

For ten years, I’ve been locked in my room, solving problems that have nothing to do with real life.

I left the small room, but I didn’t think about what I was going to do with my life from now on.

life.

It’s funny how, in ten years of solving problems, I’ve never once thought about the most important problem.

As I smiled with a bitter expression, Yordan poured some alcohol into my glass.

“I’ve been wondering if you’re alive or dead for a while now. But it’s good to see you alive.”

The joke that Yordan made to change the mood didn’t sound like a joke to me.

Among the faces I knew while preparing for the civil service exam in Manchaster, there were some who are no longer in this world.

Of course, there was no need to bring up such things and darken the mood.

“Where did I go to die? I was stuck there trying to survive.”

“The problem is that it was too long.”

“…….”

After a moment of silence.

Yordan and I continued drinking together so boisterously that it made the years we had spent apart from each other seem insignificant.

As the drinking party grew more intense, Yordan, whose face was red from drunkenness, opened his mouth.

“So, what are you going to do from now on?”

“yet.”

“Yes, it must be overwhelming. Well, you can think about it slowly. Whether it’s me who has been in society for 10 years or you who has just come into the world, we both have a long road ahead of us.”

A snicker escaped from Yordan’s words.

There is no way that I could be the same as Yordan, who started at the starting line 10 years earlier.

And yet, he says things like that to try to ease my mind.

My mind, which had been feeling lost and anxious, felt much more at ease.

“Have you tried contacting your other friends?”

“No, I just contacted you first.”

“Is this the only brother you have?”

“No, because you are the easiest.”

“This kid?”

This is true. The easiest opponent for me was a dragon.

Since our school days, we fought the most and also stuck together the most. In short, we can be called best friends.

“So, when are you going to contact me?”

In response to Yordan’s question, I simply lifted my glass and took a sip.

It took a lot of courage to even reach out to a friend I thought was closest to me.

8 years, almost 10 years if you include the time I served in the military.

For a period of time that could be called short or long, I lost touch with my friends.

Now, I don’t have the courage to contact you again.

“Wow, this kid, you’ve gotten so timid since I last saw you. Hey, this is perfect timing. Save yourself some time next Saturday night.”

“Why Satirday?”

“Shut up. If my brother tells me to come out, I’ll just come out.”

“That day I…….”

“I know you have a lot of time left.”

“…….”

I have nothing to say in response.

As Yordan said, the only thing left for a freeloader is time.

It seemed that Yordan was trying to make time for other friends he had lost contact with.

It was like that before, too. He’s the kind of guy who secretly enjoys taking care of me.

“As expected, you can’t do anything without this big brother.”

“Then why don’t you study together with me?”

“I can drink alcohol.”

I laughed along with Yordan as he joked around.

Before his temper gets any higher, there’s something I need to tell you in advance.

“Dragon.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll eat well.”

I sucked at my mother’s spine for nearly ten long years.

In a word, something close to a parasite.

Of course, I have no shame or face to ask my mother for pocket money just to meet my friend whom I haven’t seen in a long time.

Knock knock!

At my bombshell announcement, Yong-i roughly dragged his chair and got up from his seat.

“What a rascal! A broke bastard coming to a beef restaurant?”

“You said you wanted to come.”

Beef bought by a friend I met after a long time.

The drink I drank with him was very sweet.

* * *

A few days later, I went back to town to see Yordan.

“I never told you this was the place.”

“If I had told you, would you have come out?”

“Still, it’s a class reunion all of a sudden.”

Yes, the reason I am so confused right now is because of the countless faces I see outside the windows of that pub.

Most of them were quite familiar faces.

“Let’s go in! Let’s go and announce Clark Gain’s return!”

I don’t think it’s necessary to announce a return on such a grand occasion…

However, it is also funny that the dragon kicks away the place that the guy brought him to.

Hyunyong opened the door to the bar and shouted as he entered.

“Everyone, pay attention! Look who’s here!”

“For Harry Wild!”

“For! Cheers!”

However, Yordan’s shout was buried in the cheers of his other friends.

I thought to myself that it was fortunate. To be honest, I don’t really feel like getting noticed.

“Do you remember Harry Wild?”

“Harry Wild?”

“Yeah, don’t you remember? That big guy over there. That kid, the one who always bullied his friends and took advantage of them…….”

Oh, now that I think about it, I remember. He was the guy who would take money from kids at the store and use that money to buy five loaves of bread each.

“That guy is a ‘eating show’ JB.”

“Eating show JB?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty famous too. He was very successful.”

Even I, who used to live locked up in my room, know very well what kind of job an Internet JB does. As a eating show JB, I guess I should say that he has made good use of his talent.

As Yordan and I were wandering around the entrance, unable to find a seat, someone came over and pretended to know us. It was Harry, who Yordan and I had been talking about just a moment ago.

“No, who is this, are you… Clark?”

The guy approached us with an expression of exaggerated joy on his face that was obvious at first glance.

“Nice to meet you, Harry.”

Yeah, how long has it been, Clark? But… why have you changed so much?”

The guy who was in the spotlight was acting like he knew us, so the other friends’ eyes naturally turned in his direction.

“Harry?”

“Oh my, that guy is Clark Gain?”

“The tall, handsome, and studious kid in our class?”

“But why did it change like that?”

It’s not like I’ve changed much, I’ve just gained some weight… no, a lot.

That’s understandable, because for the past few years I’ve been a sedentary person, never leaving my chair.

You study while sitting, eat while sitting, sleep while sitting. You even do your work while sitting. There is no way you won’t gain weight.

A test taker doesn’t have the luxury of time to take care of his or her health.

“That’s right, I heard you were studying for the exam. So, did you pass this time?”

“no.”

“what?”

“I failed.”

“huh?”

“I won’t be able to do it in the future either.”

“……?”

“I’m unemployed.”

“…….”

When I spoke in a calm tone, everyone’s expressions changed into one of bewilderment.

Still, there’s nothing I can do.

Now I can no longer use the title of ‘examinee’, which was the legitimate reason I was able to hide in a small apartment.

Since I gave up on the civil service exam, I am truly unemployed.

Taejun Han, who had been unable to find a response to my bombshell declaration, soon opened his mouth.

What will come out of that mouth?

To be honest, I don’t want to hear it.

I know very well what Harry’s personality was like in high school.

A guy who rips off kids, bullies the weak, and enjoys gossiping about others.

If you happen to make a lot of money through internet broadcasting, you probably think the whole world is yours.

It’s probably going to be a clever sneer at my failed life…

“You’ve worked really hard, Clark.”

“……?”

“Even though you didn’t pass the exam, you can achieve anything if it’s you, Clark. You were already a cool guy in high school.”

……uh?

Was Harry originally like this?

Surprisingly, the comfort Harry gave me was sincere.

“In that sense, I’m going to comfort you today. I’ll pay for all the drinks here!”

This time, Harry’s shout surprised me in a different way.

Are you saying you’re paying for all the drinks here?

Even at a glance, it seems like it would have cost more than a few hundred thousand won?

Even if I had passed the exam, he was saying that he would calculate the money, which was close to a monthly salary that would be difficult to spend carelessly, as the cost of alcohol for a day.

“That bastard Harry, his character has changed a lot, hasn’t it?”

“……huh.”

To be honest, it was unexpected.

Not only was the attitude and atmosphere relaxed, but he really was trying to comfort me earlier.

“I heard Harry had a tough time too. He lost all the money he’d worked hard to earn as a kid, and then he worked a bunch of different jobs before becoming so successful just before he turned thirty.”

Before I knew it, my face was flushed red with intoxication.

I stayed silent until the reunion was completely destroyed.

When I first came to the reunion, to be honest, I was a little scared.

Because I was afraid that people would sneer at me and point out my failed life.

But that was completely my own delusion.

They didn’t care about me.

* * *

After the reunion, I was walking home drunk.

Yordan roughly dismissed my request for another drink.

To be honest, I didn’t really feel like having another drink.

‘She’s a famous eating show JB on the internet… ‘

“Wow, Harry, you’re amazing.”

It’s really amazing that you can make so much money just by eating.

This is in no way intended to disparage or ridicule the profession known as eating show JB.

I was truly envious of Harry’s confident appearance.

The new profession of so-called influencers may be working under more stress than we think.

But it is also true that most people earn a lot of money that is hard to imagine.

It was a completely different story to see these people in person than to only encounter them on the Internet.

I just felt a sense of ‘deprivation’ that is hard to describe.

‘… … .’

Maybe it’s because I’ve been locked up in my room alone for so long, but I feel more comfortable walking down the street alone like this than at a crowded class reunion.

‘Are you really comfortable being alone?’

That’s not true.

To be honest, right now I… … .

‘I’m angry.’

I’m so angry.

My pride is hurt.

Speaking to myself.

Harry will be able to earn in just one year an income that I would struggle to save up even if I worked my entire life.

Not only Harry, but everyone there had decent jobs and decent careers and lived comfortable lives.

That was… … something I had dreamed of for a very long time in a small apartment room that was only about 10 m in size.

‘Money isn’t everything!’

That’s a lie. To be honest, in today’s world, and at least in England.

‘Money’ is everything.

“I want to make a lot of money too.”

I have lived hard. However, all the hard times I have spent are all in vain if I do not pass.

And even if I had passed, would I have been able to free myself from this sense of defeat?

Even if it’s a civil servant’s salary, it’s nothing compared to a YouTuber’s salary.

“I too…… want to become rich!”

Not just rich.

I want to live a flashy and glamorous life like the tycoons on TV.

But that is impossible.

Since I knew it was impossible, I prepared for the civil service exam, which was the highest ladder I could climb, even though I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.

“Why can’t I?”

I tried like a dog too.

‘I also want to climb up to that high place.’

As I looked up, a shabby stationery store caught my eye on the hill leading up to my house.

There were three or four small claw machines there that dispensed capsules when you inserted a coin and spun it.

There is only one 1 poundsterling coin in my pocket.

Knock knock.

“Some people spend 2 million pondsterling a day without any worries.”

Ding-ding-.

“All I have is 1 poundsterling, which I can just spin the claw machine with.”

I’m so shocked I can’t even laugh.

Holding the capsule from the machine in my hand, I trudged home.

“……dice?”

When I got home, I fell into bed and opened the capsule without thinking, and what came out were two ordinary hexahedral dice.

“What do you want me to do with the dice?”

I threw the dice on the floor and fell asleep, snoring.

―… … .

-First throw!

―Welcome to the new player of ‘Space Valerian’.

―This wonderful game has been enjoyed by gods, kings, and rulers since ancient times.

– As a first throwing bonus, you will receive 102 marbles.

―The dots on the dice are 5 and 7 respectively. The sum of the dots is 12.

―Calculate the ‘spatial coordinates’ where Valerian’s words arrived.

―You have arrived at {Space: Doghouse}.

―Would you like to buy {Space: Doghouse} for 110 Valerian Money?

“Um, I’ll pay for everything today! I’ll buy everything…….”

-We have confirmed Valerian’s intention to purchase.

―Valerian’s Clark Gain has purchased {Space: Doghouse}. Would you like to move to the ‘private land’ you purchased immediately?

“Okay, let’s go to round 2……!”

-Transport Valerian to the private property.

What woke me up the next morning was the tongue of the owner’s dog, Pipo.