NTN 11

Treatment

Jang Mok-hwa, wearing a slightly dazed expression, raised a hand to rub her ear and asked,
“Huh, what was that?
Haha, never mind, you don’t need to repeat it. Yong Yeo-hong, why did you join the rescue team?”

“I was assigned here. I just graduated this year, and I haven’t even gotten married yet…”

Yeo-hong spoke with a near-tearful face, then repeated the last part loudly.

Blinking at him, Jang Mok-hwa said,
“So you’re the only one among all those graduates who didn’t get a spouse assigned?
And out of all those graduates, you alone were forcibly assigned to the Safety Department—and to the rescue team at that?”

Yeo-hong gave a heavy nod.

After a brief pause, Jang Mok-hwa smiled softly.
“Someone like you, we usually call ‘the chosen one.’”

Yeo-hong opened his mouth, then gave a self-mocking little laugh.
“I feel more like someone unlucky than chosen.”

His voice was so faint he didn’t bother to repeat it.
Jang Mok-hwa tilted her head, trying to catch his words, but heard nothing.
Instead of ordering him to speak louder, she simply smiled.

“From now on, we’ll go through all sorts of training. Not just shooting, combat, and wilderness survival, but also operating exoskeletons and AI-powered armor.
If someone’s skills are poor and they fail to meet the requirements, they’ll be removed from the rescue team and reassigned elsewhere.”

At that, Yeo-hong’s eyes lit up and his discouraged look vanished.

“But,”

Instead of looking at him, Jang Mok-hwa deliberately shifted her gaze to Seong Geon-woo.
“If anyone pretends to fail or doesn’t give their best during training, I’ll record it in their personnel file. You all know what that means.”

Once a blemish appeared in an employee’s file, it was nearly impossible to get a better posting later. Three blemishes meant exile to the surface of Ashland.

Geon-woo, ignoring Yeo-hong’s changing expression, said seriously,
“If you can’t even pass the training, how could you save the world?”

Baek Sae-byeok, sitting on the long sofa, turned to him as if she couldn’t stand it, wondering if there was something wrong with his head.

Geon-woo’s looks were decent enough to meet her aesthetic standards. After a short hesitation, Sae-byeok finally said to Jang Mok-hwa,
“Team Leader, after the training we should evaluate not just physical condition but mental state as well. There are plenty of factors in Ashland that can break a person. If any teammate shows psychological problems because of that, it’ll be a serious headache. We should eliminate those risks in advance.”

“A good suggestion.”

Jang Mok-hwa snapped her fingers with a sharp tak sound.
“But there’s one problem—could you speak up a little? I almost didn’t hear you.”

“Yes, Team Leader!” Sae-byeok raised her voice.

Nodding with satisfaction, Jang Mok-hwa continued,
“Only those who finish all training and pass my test will have a higher chance of surviving the missions that follow. I have no intention of keeping someone on the rescue team if they don’t meet the standards and then exposing them to dangers they can’t handle. From the company’s perspective, every bit of a worker’s value is precious—we won’t give up on someone until we’ve used up all that value.”

“Phew…”

Yeo-hong, partly freed from his fear and gloom, let out a sigh of relief.

He wanted to say something more, but the team leader’s last words—so piercing—left him speechless.

Sae-byeok frowned slightly, wondering if the team leader, like Geon-woo, might also be a little unhinged.
Even if it’s true, how can she say it so bluntly?

Clap, clap, clap!

Geon-woo suddenly applauded with enthusiasm.
“Excellent words!”

Jang Mok-hwa smiled awkwardly.
“Geon-woo, you’re a bit different from ordinary people. You don’t exactly seem like rescue-team material.”

“Why not? When everyone else is discouraged and down, I can keep up energy and smiles to cheer them up.”

Surprised, Jang Mok-hwa raised her eyebrows.
“You speak quite sensibly after all.”

“I’ve always been perfectly sensible,” Geon-woo replied, sitting straight-backed.

Jang Mok-hwa let out an amused hum, then burst into laughter.
“Then how will you cheer everyone up?”

After a moment’s thought Geon-woo said,
“With a Gold Coast hula dance.”

“…I look forward to that,” she answered flatly.
“And where did you learn it?”

“At the Entertainment Department’s year-end performance,” he said honestly.

“Ah, I missed that!” Jang Mok-hwa clapped lightly.

Listening to the two of them, Sae-byeok began to worry.
Maybe joining this team had been a mistake.
Turning her eyes, she saw Yeo-hong wearing a confused, doubtful expression.

Am I the only normal one here besides that timid, foolish guy?

She tugged at the scarf around her neck as if to hide her face.

While still chatting about the year-end show, Jang Mok-hwa glanced at the black electronic wristwatch on her arm and said,
“We’re running late. I’ll keep this brief—training’s coming up.”

Seeing all three of them glance at her watch, she waved and continued,
“I bought this from a wandering wastelander for two cans of beef stew with beans. He said he’d just found it somewhere. It was broken, but I know a factory-zone supervisor. I slipped him some contribution points and had an electronic engineer fix it.

“Haha, no need to be jealous. You’ll have chances too. When you head out into Ashland you’ll find this kind of junk scattered everywhere. Right, Sae-byeok? If I recall, you used to be a ‘trash hunter.’”

Team Leader, you don’t need to call it something that awful…

Sae-byeok opened her mouth, sighed softly, and corrected,
“‘Relic hunter.’
Though strictly speaking I wasn’t a real relic hunter. I rarely entered the deep ruins of the old cities—they’re too dangerous. I usually targeted the wasteland’s scattered…”

She hesitated, searching for the right word, then clenched her teeth and finished,
“…junk.

Sometimes I went to places near city ruins where most of the dangers were already cleared, looking for things other hunters ignored or hadn’t found. Afterward I’d drive to outposts across the wasteland and trade those items for supplies.”

Geon-woo and Yeo-hong nodded in understanding.

Their basic textbooks had given a rough picture of Ashland and even described the profession of relic hunters.
Since the fall of the Old World, relic hunters had emerged to scour ruined cities for objects, books, technical documents, and all sorts of survival resources.

The circumstances of these hunters varied widely. Some were antique scholars, historians, scientists, or agents of major powers, but most simply made a living finding and selling relics—and many doubled as wasteland bandits.

After long years of chaos, relic hunters had formed a loose organization under a powerful leader, to trade information and supplies and to prove their credibility. This was the Hunters’ Guild.

When Sae-byeok finished, Jang Mok-hwa praised her.
“This time you spoke up nicely.”

Then she smiled.
“New electronic watches are being made these days, but they’re still very rare. Basically you have to go to First City to see one.
Ah, when will I ever get to visit First City?”

First City was both a metropolis and the name of a major faction. As a city, it was the first settlement humans built atop the ruins of the Old World, and it was the capital of the faction that shared its name. As a power, First City boasted the largest population and greatest influence in all of Ashland.

At the mention of First City, Sae-byeok’s face darkened, as if recalling something she’d rather forget. But she didn’t interrupt, just curled closer to the sofa’s armrest.

Jang Mok-hwa smacked her forehead.
“Good grief, I said I’d keep it short and went long again.

“Now for the important part—your compensation.

“Seong Geon-woo, Yong Yeo-hong, you’re classified as D1. Like other D1s, you’ll receive 1,800 points each month. But we get special perks.

“Here’s how it works. You get four rest days a month; the rest are training days. On training days you can eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the small cafeteria next door. Every day you get a special half-catty meat dish—two servings—and each serving costs only one contribution point. You can eat it all at once or split it in two, your choice.

“On rest days you receive 25 contribution points daily—enough to buy half a catty of pork. Four rest days means another hundred points a month.

“So during training periods without outdoor camping, you effectively earn 1,900 points a month.

“When we leave the company grounds for training in Ashland, you get free daily supplies and an extra 30 contribution points per day. If you’re injured, all medical treatment is free, and if you end up disabled the company will even cover full bionic limb implantation at no cost.”

Turning to Yeo-hong, she added,
“If you die, your family receives a death benefit worth about eighty months of salary.

“For ranks D7 and below, our team’s treatment is better than anywhere else.

“Once you complete all training and pass the exam, you’ll be promoted straight to D2. Most employees need a year or two—sometimes more—to reach D2.”

The heavy gloom in Yeo-hong’s heart quickly gave way to excitement.
The more he heard, the brighter the future of this assignment seemed.

If he survived a few missions with the rescue team, he’d be promoted to D6, and at that level he could apply for transfer.
By then he’d have a higher rank and a solid income compared with his peers. As long as he avoided the administrators’ district, he could hold his head high anywhere.

“As for you,”

Jang Mok-hwa turned to Sae-byeok,
“since you’re not yet an official employee, your treatment doesn’t change for now. But you’ll still get the special meals and extra contribution points like regular staff. Finish the training and pass the exam, and you’ll become a full employee.”

With her expression softening slightly, Sae-byeok gave a small nod.

This is a faithful English rendering of the entire chapter you provided.