After bragging with Huang Yijun, Song Wuli returned to his workstation.
He logged into his computer and found an email about work.
It said there would be a batch of interviews for the Copywriter Position this morning and asked if Song Wuli wanted to participate.
What? He was just a small team leader; was he really qualified to interview others now?
He emailed the supervisor to ask, and the supervisor was oddly curious, replying, “You said something on your phone but didn’t respond?”
Song Wuli had to explain that his phone was lost.
The supervisor then restated the situation in the email.
The Copywriter Group 2 had shortlisted several candidates for interviews.
Besides HR and other departments, the Copywriter Group’s supervisor was supposed to attend but was unavailable, so they asked if Song Wuli could fill in.
Song Wuli thought about it for a while and agreed.
It was a rare opportunity to gain experience.
His own work was quite light anyway, so it was a good chance to screen potential future colleagues.
That morning, he spent some time revising copy at his desk.
When done, he left more than ten minutes early for the interview location.
Since it was his first time doing this, he wanted to arrive early and make a good impression.
Passing a corner, he faintly heard footsteps behind him and, wary of bumping into someone, slowed down slightly.
Just around the corner, a flash of orange collided with him.
Both tried to avoid each other but ended up moving the same way and their shoulders bumped.
The other person dropped something.
“Sorry… Sir,” the woman quickly apologized, bending down to pick up the fallen bag.
“No problem.” Song Wuli looked at the scattered papers on the ground.
He had planned to help pick them up, but then thought it was too cliché and decided to watch instead.
He glanced at the person: a woman with long orange hair, lightly made up.
Huh? An Outer Districter?
She had obvious Western Alliance features, her hair braided in a Joan of Arc style, looking quite delicate.
Still, her face was sweet and youthful, probably about 19 years old, and roughly 168 cm tall with shoes on.
They said Westerners looked older for their age; high schoolers there were as burly as bricklayers, so maybe this woman was even younger?
“What’s wrong, sir?” she asked, noticing Song Wuli was stunned for a few seconds.
“Sorry.” Old Song finally helped gather the papers.
His change in attitude came from realizing she was from the Outer District.
In this era, traveling to distant regions was extremely difficult.
Travel within the same region was relatively easier, such as going to Old Japan or Old Goryeo via the Short-Term Safe Passage and Short-Term Air Route.
The Short-Term Safe Passage meant the Eastern Alliance would clear a path with artillery fire at fixed times, escorting ships to Old Japan or Old Goryeo.
Thousands of ships—cargo, tourists, and others—would follow during this period.
The Air Route was similar: they’d open a brief corridor through battle, creating a short-time passage.
This was how regions of the Eastern Alliance reached distant places; long-distance travel remained dangerous.
Getting from the Western Alliance to the Eastern Alliance was even harder.
The passage was opened once a year for Commerce.
Ordinary citizens only had this one opportunity annually to travel or relocate to other alliances.
So seeing an Outer District face was unusual for Song Wuli.
Outer District employees in the company?
After picking up the papers, the woman bent and thanked him, then left, seemingly heading to the restroom.
Song Wuli also left and went to the Interview Room.
As expected, he had arrived a little early.
Only someone from the Financial Department was inside.
Seeing Old Song enter, the person was momentarily surprised.
They had thought Song Wuli was a candidate, but after seeing his age and uncle-like appearance, they immediately understood he wasn’t there to be interviewed.
Both nodded and introduced themselves, marking their acquaintance.
A few minutes later, someone from HR arrived.
This was the interview panel: three people—the HR representative, a person from Finance, and Song Wuli, the Copywriter Group leader.
A small-scale interview, nothing too grand.
Old Song naturally sat in the secondary seat, not the main one.
The HR representative politely asked if Song Wuli wanted to add any new questions.
After all, the Copywriter Group was recruiting, not HR, so interview questions should fit the group’s needs.
Song Wuli looked over the questions, most of which the supervisor had written and were already suitable.
“Shall we add a few more?” Old Song hesitated.
“Add what?” The HR rep remained courteous.
Old Song took out a pen and started writing.
After he finished, the HR and Finance members glanced at the additions, their expressions uneasy, but they agreed in the end.
After a while, the interview officially began.
Song Wuli scanned the interview list of over twenty candidates, roughly half male and half female.
He paused when he saw one name and examined the profile carefully.
Name: Greta Woll
Outer Districter?
Suddenly, he recalled the woman he had bumped into.
Looking further, she really was here to interview for the Copywriter Position.
He also remembered how smoothly their conversation had gone, with barely any accent.
Who exactly was this woman?
Curiosity stirred within him.
The first interviewee was not her but a young man, about the same age as Xiao Liu or Xiao Zhao.
Song Wuli gathered himself and focused on the interview.
HR was in charge of questioning; Song Wuli only needed to mark checks or crosses in his notes—no neutral ratings allowed.
HR: “Are you proficient in decompression software, PS, Word, Excel, etc.?”
The candidate answered firmly, “Yes.”
HR: “What does PS stand for?”
The candidate wiped sweat from his brow: “Adobe Photoshop.”
HR and Finance marked a cross on that item.
Song Wuli hesitated long, wanting to give a neutral mark but wasn’t allowed, feeling HR was putting the candidate under pressure.
In the end, Old Song gave a cross too, adding a note: poor memory.
HR continued questioning, leaving the candidate drenched in sweat.
After over a dozen questions, 80% of his answers received crosses.
He was basically failing.
Finally, HR handed the floor to Song Wuli to ask questions.
Old Song felt a bit nervous and asked the candidate, “Suppose a magical girl and a demon clash. The magical girl first destroys the Commerce Street metro, causing a loss of 56 million; then fights the demon again, destroying Commerce Street, a loss of 170 million; next the street and convention center, 358 million lost; then the park, 510 million lost; followed by damage to sewers and Residential Building, 275 million lost. Now, please…”
The candidate eagerly answered, “A total of 1.369 billion!”
Song Wuli said, “I asked how many areas or facilities were destroyed in total?”
“Ah?” The candidate was confused, then blankly said, “…Five?”
Song Wuli marked a cross again, writing: math below elementary school level.
Then HR asked, “What is your commuting time?”
The candidate nervously answered, “38 minutes.”
HR and Song Wuli both marked crosses.
Song Wuli added a note: poor language skills, prefers to use math counting; unsuitable for the Copywriter Position.
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