Getting Approval from Otherworld Clients - Chapter 15

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 15.
Mercury’s Orbit
Drawing Near……★ (2)
The Brand Design team at Banta gathered in the Meeting Room, their numbers noticeably swelled.
Though only one person had been added, the space felt considerably fuller now.
“It’s been a while since we’ve held a meeting with this many people.”
Pascal, never one for grand emotional displays, seemed genuinely moved by the occasion.
The team lead opened his laptop and pulled up the familiar template—the design brief appeared on screen within moments.

Mobile Art Museum Branding
– Output :
A) Main – Logo, Slogan
B) Variation – Nameplate
– Direction :
Wishes to spread beauty widely to all people in the world
An art museum, then. I wonder what kind of deranged museum awaits me this time.
‘By now, I’ve stopped expecting normal clients…….’
Spread beauty to all people in the world? Sure—maybe that means literally plucking people’s eyeballs out and forcing them to look at something.
I braced myself: no matter what insanity unfolds, I won’t be caught off guard.
‘An art museum—how tediously old-fashioned. This project’s going to be a bore, right?’
Even here in the conference room, the guy sitting right next to me—that communication addict—was whispering with a grin on his face.
“…….”
But I’m still a new hire! I don’t want to be marked as the one who talks during meetings!
Besides, any proper designer should cultivate connections across multiple disciplines to draw inspiration—take the arts, for example. That bleached-blond bastard should know better.
‘Just let this slide.’
I offered Seo Gwan-yul an awkward smile, then fixed my gaze on the screen to make it clear I didn’t want to chat.
Sensing his small talk had bombed, he listlessly doodled in his notebook instead.
Ugh, he’s sketching what looks like UFOs again.
“I’ll share the research findings. Let’s focus on the culture and arts sector—fields connected to art museums.”
– The residents here show strong interest in art. The selection isn’t diverse, but geometric and abstract art forms are well-developed.
– They possess advanced scientific technology. Their capabilities may exceed imagination, so do not operate any mechanical devices carelessly.
Advanced scientific technology, huh. So when they harvest the audience’s eyeballs, do they use something like a laser gun for a clean, painless extraction?
‘…This feels uncomfortably off.’
As I entertained thoughts of orbital extraction, I remembered my left eye—the one mortgaged under my labor contract—and rubbed it lightly.
‘Come to think of it, my left eye seems valued higher than the other body parts.’
My other body parts were bundled together, several pinned at once, but my left eye alone was priced for a full quarterly payment.
Was the eye such a precious resource in this place?
“Now we’ll head out for the client meeting. Before starting the new project, make sure to finish organizing your portfolios by tomorrow.”
The meeting adjourned, and I grabbed my messenger bag to prepare for the session.
“Let’s go, Lee Hyun-ah~.”
As I walked toward the door at the end of the corridor, he draped his elbow across my shoulder like we were old friends.
‘…Does this guy have no concept of personal space?’
We’ve known each other for two days, and anyone watching would think we were soulmates.
…Absolutely not because of the height difference that left scratches on me!!
I gently pushed his arm away and maintained an appropriate distance as we stepped through the revolving door.
Whoooosh—!
A flash.
After passing through the dark corridor, my eyes adjusted to the light I hadn’t felt in ages, blinking several times.
As images refocused on my retinas, I could make out my surroundings—
……and the first thing I saw was the damn face of my team colleague, Seo Gwan-yul.
‘Why is he sparkling so intensely? That’s a bad omen……’
Looking away from him and scanning the room, I realized we’d arrived in a Meeting Room finished entirely in sleek metal walls.
‘It’s like a scene straight out of a sci-fi film.’
On one side sat a futuristic gate and an LCD panel.
Just like an entrance hatch on a Spaceship.
“Welcome, designers.”
And rising from his seat to greet us was the client—nearly half of his face dominated by enormous, bulbous eyes.
With long, spindly fingers folded neatly, he offered his salutation.
Oh no. There was no mistaking it…….
‘No, no! Lee Hyun-ah! This is huge—that’s a Grey-type Alien Client!!’
Yes, an alien!
An alien otaku who’d been obsessing over aliens, and now one had materialized right in front of him! …Or strictly speaking, since they’re from another world, shouldn’t I call them an otherworldly being?
In any case, Seo Gwan-yul was staring at his client with eyes so wide and bright they looked as if he might be sucked in!
‘Isn’t he scared at all?’
All I could think about was what if those long fingers of theirs plucked out my eyes!
‘But still, aliens actually exist….’
It was fascinating, I had to admit.
Wasn’t it mysterious source material that had spawned all sorts of urban legends?
So while Pascal was breaking the ice with the client, I opened the messenger and asked Banta-bot about aliens.
– Yes, ma’am. We can’t verify whether aliens actually exist on Earth, but there are records of a couple named Hill claiming they were abducted. The couple claimed they underwent biometric examinations aboard a spaceship….
Stop.
I shut the messenger app off immediately.
I’d already imagined myself being dragged into a dark room for biological experiments!
“Thank you so much for traveling such a distance. It wouldn’t be proper to keep our guests standing. Please, have a seat.”
Thankfully, our client didn’t seem inclined to abduct any poor wage workers. Their courteous demeanor was oddly reassuring.
Come to think of it, the alien was even wearing a bowler hat, looking like a refined gentleman.
…Or maybe they were a lady? Did aliens even have gender?
“I’ve decided to retire. Now I’d like to open an art museum and pursue my dream.”
Apparently the client had been a spaceship engineer.
They’d been interested in art and wanted to become a painter, but worried about making a living, so they’d played it safe with engineering work.
The struggle was the same whether you were on Earth or anywhere else, it seemed.
“I even built this spaceship myself.”
I muttered quietly that they must be quite an exceptional technician to have built a UFO.
Seo Gwan-yul corrected me, saying it was more accurate to call it a UAP.
…As if that mattered!
“While working at my day job, I did some artwork on the side, and it received decent responses. Now I want to use my severance pay to open an art museum aboard a mobile spaceship. I’ll be both curator and artist.”
Wow! A whole second act to their life.
That’s impressive. Age is no barrier to taking on new challenges!
The alien projected a holographic presentation on the table.
They wanted to show us their body of work.
“Earth has been my preferred canvas, you see. Even while working as an engineer, I’d occasionally take vacation time to go there and create.”
The first artwork photo they showed us.
Geometric patterns carved into vast fields, as if created by cutting down crops, were etched across the landscape.
‘Wait, could this be….’
……A crop circle!
‘They also call it a Crop Circle!’
Stop it!
“Did you make the Nazca Lines too?! You know, those abstract animal figures in Peru!”
The one who’d been whispering urgently in my ear finally went ahead and asked the client a personal question.
“Mm, abstract animals…. Ah, it’s an old work so I’m a bit embarrassed, but yes, I have drawn such things on Earth before.”
The alien gentleman flipped through multiple pages of their portfolio to find the old photos.
What appeared on the screen were a curled-tailed monkey, birds, spiders, and more.
……Unmistakably the Nazca Lines!
“Wow!!! So it really was an alien who made them!!”
Seo Gwan-yul, unable to contain his delight, let out a happy shriek.
He’d abandoned his team and gone on an extended vacation, only to return a devoted fan. Wasn’t that just perfect for him?
“Oh, when exactly did you visit Earth?! Have you ever been to a country called Korea?!”
Pascal seemed about to stop him, but then remembered that Seo Gwan-yul had joined the company because of aliens in the first place, so he just let him be.
“Hmm, I came and went so frequently that my memory’s a bit hazy…. I’m getting on in years myself, you know. Hehe.”
Seo Gwan-yul rattled off questions as if he had a prepared alien interview checklist.
Fortunately, our kind-hearted client seemed to be enjoying the conversation.
“Haha. It’s almost my first time talking with another species like this, so I’m losing track of time. Thank you for chatting with this old one.”
“Oh, come now, you’re still in your prime. It sounds like you haven’t had much experience with cross-species interaction before?”
“I was cooped up in a research institute working on spaceships—a tedious life, really. Well, not entirely without it, but this translator was only invented recently. So this is the first proper conversation I’ve had.”
The alien pointed to the Smart Watches we were wearing.
“It was made about twenty Earth years ago. At a research institute next to where I worked.”
“Oh! So our agency must have purchased them from here. We had all sorts of amazing things at the company; I bet most of them come from this place!”
“That watch is indeed from here. But conversely, we also purchase technology from others. Great engineers exist everywhere, after all.”
The conversation continued a bit longer.
Pascal, who’d been carefully reading the client’s reactions, cut in at just the right moment and wrapped things up with talk of business matters.
“…So the core value the museum wants to convey is ‘spreading beauty widely to everyone in the world,’ isn’t it?”
“Exactly. I want to create a Mobile Art Museum that reaches everyone, so no one has to face the circumstances I did—where pursuing art simply isn’t an option.”
The client broke into a bright smile—well, an alien-good smile.
“Heh heh, then we’ll see each other at the next meeting.”
With the meeting concluded, we headed back to the office.
.
.
.
“That’s huge!!”
The moment we walked in, the alien otaku was practically vibrating with excitement.
“I’ve been at this agency for four years and I finally saw an alien! Man, Lee Hyun-ah, ever since you got here everything just falls into place.”
…Of all the terrible timing.
If he’d encountered them when I wasn’t around, I wouldn’t have had to witness this ridiculous commotion!
“All right, let’s regroup.”
Pascal steered the scatterbrained guy’s attention back on track and quickly outlined what came next.
“First, let’s wrap up the portfolio from the previous project by tomorrow. Then we dive into the naming phase for the new contract.”
“Sure, how hard could it be? Ha ha ha.”
He brushed it off with false confidence, then bolted back to his desk the moment the wrap-up ended.
‘Knock out the portfolio quick, clock out on time, and head to the gym.’
I’d recently signed up for personal training sessions at the company gym—finally putting those employee benefits to use. You’re supposed to do that on weekday evenings, not weekends, if you want to keep your precious weekends sacred.
…Because that’s the only way to stay locked inside the house all weekend without stepping foot outside!
Steeling myself with determination, I grabbed lunch, came back, and settled at my desk.
Beeeeeep—-!
…!
A sudden high-pitched whine erupted.
‘…Electronic device, some kind of sound?!’
The sharp noise seemed to be coming from the computer.
Crackle-crackle-crackle—!
Immediately after, the entire monitor filled with static.
It wasn’t just happening to me.
“What the—what’s going on?”
“The computer just went haywire!”
Confused voices rippled through the office.
Tick, tick, tick–
Only the analog wall clock seemed unaffected, its second hand ticking steadily on.
1 second. 2 seconds. 3 seconds.
13 seconds.
Pop–!
“Oh! The screens are back!”
“Phew, I thought the computer crashed.”
After roughly 13 seconds had elapsed, the screens returned to normal.
I glanced back at the wall clock.
1 p.m.
Just after lunch ended, during an ordinary stretch of the workday when everyone was settling back in.
But here’s the thing—if you change how you say it:
13:00.
“…….”
A 13-second anomaly occurring at 13:00.
……Was this really just coincidence?

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————