Substitute-Chapter 27

After orientation, the Crew finished their dinner at the cafeteria and gathered again in the main auditorium by teams.

Each team leader assigned rooms to the Crew and fastened bracelets onto their wrists, which they were required to wear 24 hours a day.

The bracelet, resembling something seen from a luxury brand, served as an ID tag, a keycard, and a bank account all at once.

“Is this real gold?”

“Idiot, would they seriously use real gold for you?”

The bracelets were tailored to fit each Crew member’s wrist perfectly, and they said the only way to remove them was either by using a cutting machine or cutting off the wrist itself.

Hearing that, everyone chuckled, calling them dog bracelets instead of dog collars, but judging by the way they looked at the bracelets, they seemed secretly pleased by how well-made they were.

Jiwon, whose right arm was practically useless now, wore his bracelet on his left wrist.

And then he signed the contract.

The contract term was a total of twenty-one days.

As he had heard during the final interview, the salary was written clearly: fifty million won per week for the two-week residency, and fifty million won per day for the remaining week.

Since they had received a special signing bonus for joining, this week’s total would come to sixty million won.

The so-called success bonus of two hundred and fifty million won would be deposited on the twenty-second day.

All payments would be transferred into coin accounts opened under their names.

The risks and bonuses mentioned during orientation were still vaguely worded to sound better than they were, but the amounts were stated clearly.

In no time, the contract signing was done.

It wasn’t just a signature.

Every young man gathered here, including Jiwon, had to provide fingerprints from all ten fingers, and even had their DNA collected with a swab.

"Alright, move by teams. Crew Zero, stand up!"

With the Captain leading the way, Crew Zero filed out of the auditorium.

They all took the elevator down to the second basement floor.

Jiwon wondered what they were doing, only to realize it was to check the state of their waxing.

Peeking over the Captain’s shoulder, he noticed that the button for the first basement level was completely disabled, and the third floor and rooftop buttons were marked in red.

Rather than the restricted zones, he found himself more curious about the third floor and the rooftop, labeled as limited areas.

As soon as they stepped out onto the second basement floor, a faint smell of water and chlorine hit them.

Sure enough, there was a swimming pool.

A massive pool stretched across both the third and second basement floors, sitting dead center in the building.

Since the walls were made of full glass, the entire interior was visible; with eight lanes spanning at least fifty meters in width, it looked grand enough to hold a swimming competition at any moment.

No one was swimming, but the facilities were clearly top-notch.

"This is the pool you’ll be using soon," the Captain said proudly.

Jiwon, who loved swimming, felt a surge of excitement despite himself.

Then he bitterly laughed, remembering he hadn’t even gone near a pool since the accident.

Would his arm hold out?

There was nothing wrong with his shoulder, so he figured he’d manage somehow.

Honestly, just floating in the water would probably feel good.

Leaving the pool behind, they came to a long corridor.

Along both sides stretched the various recreational and convenience facilities that Manager Kim had explained earlier.

There was a 24-hour coin karaoke room, a billiard hall, a bowling alley, and even an arcade.

Although their doors were closed, there was also a massage shop, a barber shop, and even a nail salon.

The waxing shop was located between the massage and barber shops.

Only four people could be processed at once, so numbers one through four stripped naked and lay down on beds separated by curtains.

The rest waited in the waxing shop’s lounge.

All the waxers were men, wearing black masks that only revealed their eyes and mouths.

Thanks to the masks, Jiwon didn’t have to see their facial expressions, which was a relief.

Soft classical music played in the background, making the silence between them feel less awkward.

The waxer assigned to Jiwon carefully inspected his upper body first—his back, chest, armpits, and arms and legs.

Then he moved meticulously to examine below the navel: around the genitals, the groin, and the buttocks.

The inspection was so slow and thorough that cold sweat broke out on Jiwon’s forehead.

Whenever the waxer's fingers brushed him, he involuntarily gasped and flinched.

The inspection continued down his thighs, knees, calves, and finally his toes.

After what felt like an eternity, the waxer finally lifted his head and said he passed, but warned that Jiwon needed to pay much closer attention to moisturizing and exfoliation around his genitals and anus.

The waxer carefully explained the care routine, then handed over a note with instructions, a moisturizing cream, a spray for ingrown hairs, and an exfoliating agent, telling him they’d see each other again in a week.

From the next bed, Jiwon heard sharp gasps and groans, as if someone was undergoing waxing all over again.

While Jiwon was getting dressed in the locker room, the next person took his spot on the bed.

Once all seven of them finished their inspections /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ and exited the shop, another eleven people went in like a baton pass.

"You must be tired. Let’s go get some real rest now."

The Captain led the team up to the second floor.

Arriving at the residential floor, he ordered them to stand in front of their assigned doors.

Crew Zero had been assigned rooms 201 to 207.

Even though they were at the farthest left end, something about the size felt off.

The building had looked endlessly long from the outside...

Was there a hidden wall?

Assigned to room 201, Jiwon subtly tapped on the wall when no one was looking.

His knuckles hurt. free𝑤ebnovel.com

It wasn’t a fake wall.

He tilted his head in confusion.

"Alright, Sailors. Grab the doorknob with the hand wearing the bracelet. Now!"

At the Captain’s command, they grabbed their doorknobs, and a blue light blinked on.

"Good work, everyone. See you tomorrow."

With those final words from the Captain, everyone entered their rooms.

Finally, he was alone.

The room Jiwon would use was a bedroom with a garden view, spacious enough that even a second queen-size bed could have fit.

There was a small living room facing the window, with a coffee table and two small sofas facing each other, and a desk against the wall.

On the desk sat a tablet PC covered with a label reading "Sailor 1."

There was no Wi-Fi or mobile network connection, and of course, no access to external websites.

They had said there was a separate place where coins could be exchanged for cash, so he would check tomorrow if that was true.

He closed the tablet cover and inspected the rest of the room.

The bathroom was surprisingly plain.

Without a bathtub, it contained only a shower stall, a sink, and a toilet.

A folded shower gown and towels were neatly stacked on a shelf.

Lastly, he opened the wardrobe, which had a full-length mirror on its door.

All civilian clothes he had worn to arrive had to be returned to the clothing collection box in the second-floor lobby by 9 PM, and from now on he could only wear and use items provided here.

Inside the wardrobe hung two white sailor uniforms he was to wear starting tomorrow.

The sailor suits were a simple two-piece design, with a large rectangular neckerchief collar highlighted in sky blue and navy.

Lined up neatly underneath were white dress shoes and white sneakers.

There were no cumbersome hats.

That was all.

There were no pajamas or casual clothes to wear comfortably besides the sailor uniforms.

Underwear and socks were stored inside a small three-drawer cabinet placed where a hotel would normally have a safe.

In the top drawer, there were three pairs of black T-back underwear; in the second drawer, there were two pairs each of black fishnet stockings that reached the thighs and white ankle socks.

The fact that they were making them wear black T-back underwear under white pants was so transparent that he couldn’t help but snort.

The fishnet stockings hardly needed any commentary.

Fucking perverts.

Even with waxing, he was still a full-grown man.

Tch.

He clicked his tongue.

Opening the last drawer, he saw a bottle of oil, condoms, and an electric masturbation device.

They banned even masturbation for the first week, yet deliberately placed that inside—he felt their intent was truly vile.

Stepping away from the wardrobe, he turned back to look at the picture-perfect night view.

Just yesterday, Jiwon had been living in a tiny goshiwon barely the size of one and a half pyeong, so this level of treatment left him dazed.

Honestly, they didn’t even need to go this far; there were already countless people who would’ve thrown themselves at this place just for a chance.

And yet, they were offering massive bonuses and treating them this extravagantly.

What was their real intention?

No—that was exactly why they had been able to continue such insane things without a hitch until now.

If you followed the logic, that was how the cause and effect lined up.

Recruiting expendable goods called Crew for their own pleasure, paying them obscene amounts to buy their silence.

Jiwon swore to himself:

This would be the last party.

He would make sure of it.

Fatigue rushed over him.

Following the waxer's instructions, Jiwon exfoliated his skin in the shower with lukewarm water, then sprayed the special ingrown hair care solution afterward, waiting until it fully absorbed before carefully applying the gel-type moisturizing lotion.

It was the first time in his life he had ever devoted this much attention to his own genitals and ass, and the feeling was strange.

The bare, hairless skin felt alien and ridiculous.

Were all these scenes being transmitted live through the CCTV?

He had heard there were cameras even in the bathroom, but he couldn’t find any no matter how hard he looked.

They must have been cleverly embedded, knowing that if they were visible, it would destroy any sense of freedom.

Thinking about how someone might be watching him, he didn’t even get embarrassed—he just let out soft, deflating snorts of laughter.

After all, a grown man meticulously rubbing lotion onto his crotch probably wasn’t exactly a pretty sight.

Wearing only the shower gown, he went out to the lobby and dropped off the clothes he’d worn to the facility.

His cheap jeans, his obviously counterfeit Nike T-shirt, his underwear, and socks all disappeared into the collection box.

Even the sneakers, whose soles had been worn to the point of almost falling off, were discarded.

And just like that, he distanced himself from his old life.

He said goodbye to society.

Jiwon got into bed naked.

The mattress was as soft as a cloud, and the blanket smelled good.

He rubbed his face against the crisp, smooth cotton sheets.

The air inside the room was so clean and fresh that every breath felt amazing.

Unfortunately, the comfort didn’t last long.

Until now, he had been too busy to notice, but the arm he had injured during the accident began to throb with maddening pain.

It must have been the lingering effects of the drugged drink he had on the van earlier that dulled it before—now, the drug had completely worn off.

No matter how much he tried to sleep, the tingling numbness and stabbing pain in his elbow wouldn’t let him.

He needed painkillers.

Maybe he could ask them to just bring him the pills he had in his sling bag?

He remembered the Captain’s room number across the lobby and hesitated.

He didn’t want to stand out in a bad way already.

He decided he would wait until tomorrow, find the right moment, and bring it up then.

For now, he forced himself to try to sleep.