The Villainous Director Is Raising a Child!

He had a point.

I now had the personnel authority to forcibly haul in any talent at the institute I wanted.

But I didn't want to do that.

"How am I supposed to trust people I dragged in against their will?"

I answered, tapping the mountain of résumés with a finger.

"I don't trust forced loyalty. At the very least, I'm picking people with enough drive to write a résumé."

"Then how many are you thinking of taking? These people are all on other important projects, aren't they—"

"About thirty, I'd say?"

At my casual answer, Han Soeun asked back, startled.

"Th-thirty?!"

Thirty meant pulling out nearly a third of the institute's workforce.

"If you take that many, the other research teams are looking at total collapse..."

That's exactly what I want.

Hiding that inner thought, I answered in an easy tone.

"That's the Deputy Director's problem."

There were two reasons I'd demanded personnel authority from the Bureau Chief.

One was for the kids' education.

And the other was to cut Park Wonjin off at the hands and feet.

In any organization, in the end, the one with personnel authority is the king.

Nobody's going to defy a superior who can, overnight, ship them off to a dead-end post or fire them.

Now Park Wonjin can't cut or hire a single researcher on his own team without my permission.

"I don't care what happens to the other research teams — take this and cherry-pick nothing but the core talent from each department."

If it sent the institute reeling, all the better for me.

It would make getting the kids out that much easier.

A few days of document review later, it was done.

Out of dozens of résumés, the final list of thirty names sat on my desk.

"Per your instructions, Director, we've narrowed it to thirty — the ones with the best records in each field, whose work will most directly support the kids' growth."

I skimmed the list and nodded.

"Good. Take all of them. And—"

I looked, in turn, at Lee Jinwoo, Han Soeun, and Kang Taemin.

"You three split up the new researchers as you see fit — ten each — and take charge of them."

"...!"

"There's only one goal. Making my dolls strong. Educate and train the kids to perfection, so they aren't lacking in any area."

Tension, alongside resolve, filled the three of their faces at my words.

"Yes, sir! Understood, Director!"

"Yes! Just leave it to us!"

"I'll see the mission through."

On their crisp, spirited answers, the meeting was over.

The next day.

I called the newly recruited thirty researchers and the three existing team members to the virtual reality training room.

Inside the endless expanse of pure white space, the thirty-three researchers stood lined up like an army.

Expectation, unease, and an eagerness they couldn't quite name mixed on their faces.

Tak, tak. In the silent space, only the sound of my dress shoes rang out heavily.

The moment I stepped up onto the platform, thirty-three pairs of eyes fixed on me at once.

Under the weight of it, I swallowed hard without meaning to.

Hoo... nervous.

The last time I'd stood alone in front of this many people was back in my kindergarten teacher days, at a parent observation class.

Back then, it had been twenty kids and thirty-three parents.

...Compared to that, this is doable. There are only about half as many here.

Rationalizing to myself like that, I opened my mouth.

"Welcome to my playground."

At my words, I felt the shoulders of the newly recruited researchers twitch.

Impressive lineup, for sure.

Senior Researchers, Lead Researchers, and even the Chief Researcher who used to be the head of the Energy Engineering team were in the mix.

That guy — he abandoned his entire team and came over here?

As if to prove my thought, a few researchers behind him were watching him with cold eyes.

Good.

I laughed to myself inside.

With this much core talent pulled out, the institute's going to be in disarray for a while.

I met the burning gazes of all thirty-three head-on and opened my mouth.

"So. You lot are supposedly the top elites at this institute?"

I pulled a résumé out of the subspace pouch at my chest.

It was the one belonging to the Chief Researcher who had been head of the Energy Engineering team.

"Let's see here."

Deliberately, I read out his brilliant credentials louder than necessary.

"Founder of the core output efficiency measurement formula, the Hwang Coefficient."

"Head of the project that improved the efficiency of the current B-rank mana stone generators by 3.7%."

"And lead analyst on the primary energy waveforms of Korea's S-rank Gate, the Dragon's Nest. Well."

A satisfied smile the man couldn't hide rose to his face.

But that smile didn't last.

Rrrip—.

Right in front of his eyes, very slowly, I tore that dazzling résumé clean in half.

The satisfied smile on his face froze there just as it was.

At my bombshell of a move, a huk! of choked breath went up among the researchers, followed by a wave of disbelieving whispers.

I looked at their stiffened faces and gave a thin, mocking laugh.

"Past accomplishments? Current rank? None of my business. Whether you were a Chief or a Lead. In here, every one of you is just a regular researcher — nothing more."

I could guess my standing at the institute well enough.

Some lucky brat.

The kid who'd made Director on his father's back, gotten lucky with one good test subject, and skated through the evaluation on luck too.

I didn't have the authority or the reputation to overwhelm them.

Which was why I had to keep playing the delinquent.

So that they'd fear me.

"Anyone who doesn't like my style — leave, right now. The door's over there. I don't hold on to people who want to walk."

Every gaze turned to the former Chief Researcher whose résumé I'd just torn.

His face burned red, and his shoulders twitched.

But in the end, he didn't move.

"Good."

I swept my eyes over the full thirty-three researchers.

"Since you've decided to stay on this team, from here on out, there's only one thing you need to keep in mind. The ultimate purpose of this project."

A puzzled light flickered across the faces of all thirty-three researchers.

I threw my arms wide open and delivered the line I'd rehearsed dozens of times in front of the mirror the night before.

Like a clown announcing the climax of a circus.

"The real purpose of this project is... my great and glorious game of house!"

"...What?"

A dumb little sound escaped someone's mouth.

"I'm going to feed these test subjects well, teach them well, and turn them into the most perfect dolls in the world."

"...!"

"So all of you — from here on, you're to devote everything to my game of house and cooperate."

At that instant, a low murmur spread through the researchers.

"...Game of house... dolls... don't tell me it's code for soldiers..."

"Personally raising perfect soldiers... with his own two hands..."

But I couldn't properly hear their murmuring.

I was too busy fighting through the toe-curling embarrassment and the heat crawling hotly up the back of my neck.

Calm. Down. Calm!

I white-knuckled the mind control.

Fortunately, the rehearsal seemed to have paid off — I managed to avoid the horrific scenario of my face going bright red.

To cover the embarrassment, I hurried on.

"Since we're all on the same team as of today, there are a few rules to keep."

I held up one finger.

"First. Absolutely no physical violence toward my dolls, no unwanted physical contact of any kind. Break this and you're out, on the spot."

I held up two fingers.

"Second rule."

I ran my eyes pointedly over the researchers' matching white coats.

"Forget that this is a research institute."

"?"

At my words, blatant question marks rose on the new hires' faces.

"My dolls are very sensitive, see. They'll go into convulsions at so much as a whiff of experiments or research. So in front of the dolls, don't show even the slightest hint that this is an institute."

I gestured with my chin to the existing team members standing at the front.

"Start by getting rid of those disgusting little white coats. From here on, dress like that."

Thirty pairs of eyes turned in unison to me and the three researchers.

Me — in an expensive designer knit and slacks that showed a hint of ankle.

Lee Jinwoo — his crisply pressed shirt sleeves rolled neatly up to his elbows, not a speck of dust on him.

Han Soeun — in a hoodie so casual it looked ready for a slipper trip to the corner store, not research.

And Kang Taemin — in a black suit so sharply cut he could've passed for a bodyguard.

Every one different.

If there was a single common thread, it was that none of them looked anything like a researcher.

I added the explanation.

"Syringes, lab tools, anything like that — never let the dolls see them. And cut the test subject talk. From here on, address the dolls by their individual names."

I finished, looking at the new hires.

"At least in front of the dolls, this isn't an institute, and you aren't researchers. Understood?"

"Yes!"

To their shouted reply, I held up three fingers.

"And the third and last rule."

I gestured Lee Jinwoo, Han Soeun, and Kang Taemin over to stand beside me.

"These three, as of today, are your superiors. Insubordination toward them will be treated as insubordination toward me."

At my words, a swell of emotion rose on Lee Jinwoo and Han Soeun's faces, and even the corners of the stoic Kang Taemin's eyes softened — faintly, but visibly.

That was the exact moment.

A voice full of complaint burst out from somewhere among the researchers.

"That's absurd, Director!"

I turned my head, and there stood a big, oily-faced man.

I quickly flipped, in my head, through the résumés I'd looked over the night before.

Monster Analysis team, Senior Researcher Hwang Dushik. Han Soeun's former superior.

And what she'd said about him came back to me on its heels.

[Ugh, honestly... this guy... a total dinosaur. His virtual data implementation is the one thing he's actually good at, so—]

She'd broken off then, scrunching up her face like she'd hit some memory she'd rather not have.

[Oh, and he keeps hitting on me, pisses me off! A senior researcher who spends all his time asking me to lunch instead of doing the research he's supposed to be doing! Ugh!]

She'd stuck her lip out in a pout.

[Still... for the kids' training... it drives me nuts, but I couldn't not pick him.]

Remembering her griping, I looked Hwang Dushik dead in the face.

"...What was that?"

At my cold gaze, his shoulders flinched for an instant, but he didn't back down — if anything, he raised his voice, like he was the one on the side of justice.

"However much this is the Director's own team, being told to treat these three — who are junior to us by years — as our seniors is absurd!"

He said it nearly at a shout.

"I've been eating this institute's rice ten years longer than they have! This is an act that tears down the institute's chain of command! I ask that you rescind that order!"

Skill without character, throwing around seniority and age — that puffed-up attitude.

Textbook old-guard blowhard.

I slowly rose from my seat.

And down the virtual-reality platform I stepped, one step at a time.

Tak, tak.

The space that had been noisy a moment ago had, at some point, sunk into a chilly silence so deep you could've heard a pin drop.

Finally, I stood right in front of him.

Hwang Dushik clearly hadn't expected the very Director he'd dared raise his voice against to come right up to his nose, and his face plainly showed it.

I asked, right into that flustered face:

"So then, you..."

"...!"

"You're my senior too, then?"

"...Excuse me?"

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