Monster Company Tycoon - Chapter 7

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Monster Company Tycoon
Chapter 7
Beneath the small passport photo was a name.
Skeleton.
Work history, qualifications, statement of purpose, cover letter—everything.
It was surprisingly ordinary, practically identical to a human résumé, and for a moment I felt utterly disoriented.
The fact that a monster could draft a proper résumé and sit for an interview struck me as darkly ironic.
The only real difference, if I had to point one out, was that instead of personal information, there was a “Combat Information” section.
Species, Level, Attack Power and Defense, Attribute, Special Skills, and so on.
Monster statistics of the sort you’d find in a game guide were listed in meticulous detail.
Skeleton was—and I hate to say it—by any measure just cannon fodder, the sort of disposable mob that dungeon challengers used to measure their strength.
The kind of small-time grunt who became a handful of experience points early on and died gloriously for it.
“Level five, Attack Power one hundred, Defense fifty….”
“I know my stats fall short for a large-scale dungeon like this, but if you’ll have me, I’ll work with all my heart and soul! Clatter.”
If you work with all your heart and soul, wouldn’t you just dissolve away?
The nervous bearing of the interviewee and their evident desperation to land this job suddenly tugged at something in my chest.
At my previous company, I’d handled all human resources, attending every single interview without fail.
The Physiognomist who hired me stopped showing up to interviews after I joined, and from what I’d heard in passing, it was because I’d taken over that responsibility from him.
He’d said I could trust my own eyes and instincts.
I’d sat in similar seats before, meeting countless job seekers. Times had been hard, so even a Black Company like ours got a steady stream of applicants.
They looked different, but the desperation to become part of society ran the same across every race.
I looked at the skull, then hastily averted my gaze at the sight of that fearsome face.
I can’t adjust to this.
No matter what, I have to conduct the interview while facing the candidate, but my courage just isn’t holding up.
Monsters in games and monsters in reality hit completely different—that’s just how it is!
As I was racking my brain for some solution, I suddenly remembered the glasses I was wearing.
I’d had slight myopia since birth and had worn glasses since childhood.
The round frames, together with my small stature, had done much to earn me the nickname Chihuahua.
If I took them off… everything would look blurry, so wouldn’t that be fine?
I carefully removed my glasses as a test and set them on the desk. Then I looked at the candidate again.
With the skull’s features blurred into an indistinct smudge, it felt much better. That works!
“Let’s see….”
Fortunately, I could still read the text if I squinted and held it close.
The cover letter, written with such care and attention, came into focus.
[From the moment I gained self-awareness, I was taught by my Necromancer to become a responsible monster, and his emphasis on sincerity shaped everything I am….]
…….
Just to be sure, I checked another résumé right below it. It was from a Low-rank Goblin.
[I was born the only son among three children to a cruel father and a cold mother….]
Are cover letters really all the same no matter what world you’re in?
Whether there was some interdimensional template, the same tired clichés I’d read countless times kept repeating themselves.
I finally turned my attention away from the cover letters and focused on the work history section instead.
“Instant Dungeon part-time work twice, Field Boss auxiliary once. You’ve got some experience?”
Definitely just cannon fodder.
“Yes, that’s right! Clatter.”
…I decided to think of the dungeon as a company and adjust my mindset accordingly. If it was going to become a proper establishment, I needed talented employees above all else.
From this moment forward, I had to draw on every bit of experience I’d accumulated as an HR officer to separate the wheat from the chaff.
The employees I hired would determine the dungeon’s future.
I needed to take this seriously.
I brightened and opened my mouth.
“What kind of duties did you primarily handle?”
“In the Instant Dungeon, I was assigned to guard the entrance and the first floor! Clatter.”
Every time Skeleton opened his mouth, his jawbone clacked and rattled loudly.
“To avoid wasting the resources of the higher-ranked monsters defending the deeper levels, I took on the role of filtering out challengers with below-average combat ability at the start! Clatter.”
Exactly a combat measuring stick.
“And the Field Boss auxiliary work… what was that about?”
“When the Field Boss launched a Raid, I filled out the numbers! Clatter.”
So I was the “numbers” in that phrase about how there’s no defense against a swarm.
“I also coordinated with my teammates, stayed in formation without breaking ranks, and gave my all in combat so that the Field Boss would be impressed with his mighty forces and superior leadership! Clatter.”
I swallowed hard.
Even if we hired this Skeleton, he’d probably end up doing nothing more than guarding the first floor.
“Besides, only low-level monsters would pay attention to gossip spread by a Low-rank Wind Fairy anyway.”
So this was the average talent pool our Dungeon could reasonably expect?
‘Still, this monster must have some strengths of its own.’
I gathered my thoughts and pressed on with the interview.
“Is there anything you found particularly difficult during combat?”
“Yes—there was the time I didn’t even get to swing my sword properly before being caught in a mage’s Area Magic and having to Retire! Clatter.”
Suddenly my head throbbed.
I found myself imagining the Skeleton being swept up in an area attack, exploding in an instant and doing nothing but boost the adventurers’ Impact Satisfaction.
“But my duty has always been to hold back the challengers’ advance! Even after my entire body was shattered, I clung to their ankle with my jaw! If that small wound I left behind eventually leads to a challenger’s despair, then I’ll have done my part! Clatter.”
Oh—a properly monstrous mindset.
Weak though it was, the sheer grit deserved recognition.
Outstanding ability mattered, certainly, but so did sincerity and a sense of responsibility.
Those were precisely the qualities I always watched for in interviews.
A company is an organization, after all. You need people who work in sync with others, not lone wolves who stand out. And besides, talented people would never last a week at a place like ours anyway.
“What impressed me was your determination to complete your assigned duty even under difficult circumstances.”
“Thank you so much! Clatter.”
I continued asking questions about various sections of the résumé, getting a fuller picture of the candidate.
‘Still nothing stands out. Maybe I need to assess this more objectively?’
I scanned the Skeleton’s Combat Information, then glanced at the résumé of the Low-rank Goblin placed directly below it for comparison.
The goblin’s Attack Power was 50, Defense 100—not significantly different from the Skeleton’s.
At those numbers, how well could they actually hold back adventurers? I still couldn’t quite get a feel for it.
The Skeleton’s race type was Undead. Attribute: none. As for special attack techniques, it had only one—Slash (F).
I lifted my eyes from the résumé and examined the candidate’s equipment.
Shabby Armor. A sword with chips missing along its edge.
With such low specs, at least decent equipment should make up for it—but that gear looked nowhere near enough to bridge the gap.
“That equipment….”
“Oh, this is the best gear my coworkers at the Graveyard gave up for me when they told me to do well in the interview! Clatter.”
Something caught in my throat, and I bit down on my lip hard.
I’d been reminded of fresh graduates who borrow suits for job interviews.
This was the hardest part. The moment when a single word from me could change someone’s future.
How could I possibly say they’d failed?
My thinking shifted a little in that instant.
If the salary was low, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to hire someone on as a trial run for experience?
If the applicants were weak, I could just hire enough of them and go for quantity over quality.
“May I ask what your desired salary would be?”
At my question, the Skeleton visibly tensed.
This wasn’t ordinarily a question asked at this stage.
“I, I’m….”
“Feel free to speak comfortably.”
“500 Won per week, if I may! Clatter.”
Per week? Not per month? And only 500 Won?
Even calculating it as four weeks, that came to around 2,000 Won a month.
“You’re sure it’s 500 Won?”
What was the cost of living in this place anyway?
The currency was different, but something about the number made me feel oddly unsettled—as if I were hiring someone to work for 2,000 Korean Won a month.
“W-well, if that seems too much, we could adjust it! Really, if you’d just hire me, I could take even less—!”
They’d accept even less pay?
My remaining Dungeon operating funds totaled 99,000 Won.
At around 2,000 Won per month here….
“I’ll let you know the interview results later. Thank you for taking the time.”
I needed to check on the other monsters’ situations first.
I might actually need to go with the quantity approach.
“Yes, thank you so much! I look forward to hearing from you!”
The Skeleton’s legs trembled visibly as it walked out—apparently the tension of the interview had been intense indeed.

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