Introduction A sitcom novel by Jung Jieum, a writer who rose to stardom with The Sorrows of Young ADHD, which narrates through 26 episodes “everyday life” in this “unlucky” startup where fantastical happenings arise day after day. Here unfolds the story of an unlucky startup which can’t help but draw a tear from the eye of any employee who can endure any workload but not their bosses’ rudeness, or any worker caught between turmoil and fury as they repeat meaningless tasks or take on busywork that really doesn’t seem to be part of their responsibilities. Kim “Supervisor Kim Dajeong” Dajeong, English nickname DJ, is the project leader of a one-person team and the youngest employee of the International Mind Beauty Content Group. Her duties include not only project management, market research, marketing, and customer service, but also smiling at the CEO’s inane jokes and empty boasts, feigning immense gratitude for the massage chair he bought to cozy up to his office fling but is pretending is for employee welfare, emptying her pockets to throw him a party on his birthday, and producing a calligraphic rendition of the company motto for no other reason than that she majored in creative writing. It turns out that this hellscape, where she must pick up after not only her unreasonable boss but also the members of his fan club, is the kind of five-or-fewer-employees enterprise even Department Head Lee from Damn Good Company would pity… Humor is the only thing that keeps the three musketeers of the Unlucky Startup, Dajeong, Jigu, and Soojin, going through each awful workday. When one of them suffers an unbearable injustice, they invoke their secret code “Anyone want to go for some Heotgaesu?” and step out for a bout of gossip; on days when one of the three is targeted by Park Gukje, the others activate their “mutual aid” protocol, helping fill in gaps in the target’s work and conversations until they bounce back. Exchanging consolation and jokes as they endure the perils of their work environment, these three characters demonstrate the warm friendships that can bloom in the workplace. Table of Contents Prologue: SGC TEST 7 Episode 1: Supervisor DJ Kim Dajeong Explodes 19 Episode 2: I Said I’m Not Sulking 33 Episode 3: The Boss’ Internet Alter-Ego 42 Episode 4: Our Twisted Beauty 52 Episode 5: The Hypercompetent Soojin Laughs 60 Episode 6: The End of the Beautiful CEO 73 Episode 7: The Boss’ Birthday Party 80 Episode 8: I Knew It Was You, Department Head Lee 90 Episode 9: “I Knew It Was You, Department Head Lee” Goes Hip Hop 101 Episode 10: Blacklisted by the Call Center 110 Episode 11: We Got an 80-pyong Office 121 Episode 12: How To Avoid The Sun 129 Episode 13: I LOVE JAMES 137 Episode 14: The Hoodlum Teacher’s Love Story 143 Episode 15: A Rice Bin Too Cruel for Me 151 Episode 16: One Day the Boss Brought in a Massage Chair 162 Episode 17: I Told You, I Didn’t Major in Calligraphy 170 Episode 18: Enter the Experienced Newcomer Lim Bojeong 177 Episode 19: Out with Dajeong, In with Bojeong 189