Just then, he heard a knock on his office door.
Martin quickly lowered his phone and straightened in his chair.
"Co in!"
His boss walked in.
"Hi, BOSS!" Martin shot up from his chair and saluted.
His boss stopped for half a second, then chuckled.
"Martin, you should drop that soldier-like attitude. You’re climbing the social ladder now, so proper manners are a must."
"Am I?" Martin asked, confused.
His boss looked at him for a mont, as if checking whether he was joking.
He was not, and that only made the older man smile more.
"It’s not only the promotion at work. You’re becoming more famous. I saw the videos from yesterday."
"Oh..."
Martin’s eyes instantly shifted toward his phone on the desk.
His boss noticed, of course.
"Relax. I’m not here to scold you for watching clips during work hours. Your team is doing its work, and nothing is burning down."
"Thank you, Boss."
"That said, you should understand what those videos an," his boss continued. "They may be free to watch, but they gather attention. And in business, attention has value."
Martin slowly nodded, though his expression said that only half of it had entered his brain.
His boss continued patiently.
"Sponsors want people to look at them. If you and Night Espresso already have people looking, then sponsors have a reason to co closer."
"So... likes are custors?"
"In a way, yes. Or at least proof that custors are there."
Martin looked genuinely enlightened.
"Damn."
His boss laughed under his breath. "That is one way to summarize modern business."
Martin rubbed his chin.
So all those people calling Ao Tenshin Rider are potential custors?
That sounded stupid.
It also sounded like money.
"I’m sure Miss Cassandra will handle that if you decide to sign more contracts with her," his boss said. "That woman certainly knows how to turn attention into value. That said, the faster you learn how to behave in the business world, the better it will be for you and everyone around you."
Martin nodded. "Yes, that makes a lot of sense."
It made sense to him, at least mostly.
He understood the simple part. People were watching him. Watching ant attention. Attention ant money. Money ant Cassandra would probably smile that dangerous businesswoman smile and sohow turn the whole thing into a contract with twenty pages.
That sounded right.
"I’m here to invite you to a tennis match this evening with so of our business partners," his boss said.
"Tennis, Boss?" Martin asked.
"Yes, tennis."
Martin looked down at himself, then back at his boss.
"Boss, I don’t think I own tennis clothes."
"That can be solved."
"I also don’t think I’m good at tennis."
"That can also be solved. You are not going there to win a tournant."
"I’m not?"
"No. You are going there to et people."
Martin’s face slowly tightened with understanding.
"Oh. So it’s business tennis."
His boss smiled. "That is one way to put it."
Martin nodded seriously.
Business tennis is really a rich people quest.
"We may be small compared to the corporate giants," his boss continued, "but it’s still a good starting point for a newbie like you. You’ll et business partners, shake hands, talk politely, and learn how people behave in that environnt."
"Do I need to say anything special?"
"Not at first. Listen more than you speak. Be polite. Do not overshare. Do not call anyone ’bro’ unless they call you that first."
Martin froze.
His boss raised an eyebrow, and Martin slowly nodded.
"Understood."
"And try not to salute."
"Understood."
"Other than that, be yourself. Just be a more controlled version of yourself."
A more controlled version of himself sounded harder than tanking Raze Dawg, but Martin could try.
"I’m in! Thank you!" Martin replied excitedly.
"Haha! See you this evening, then."
His boss turned to leave, then paused at the door.
"And Martin?"
"Yes, Boss?"
"Wear sothing decent."
Martin looked down at his work clothes again.
"Define decent?"
His boss sighed, but there was no irritation in it.
"I’ll send you a few examples."
"Thank you, Boss!"
The door closed behind his boss.
Martin sat back down and looked at his phone again.
The thumbnail still showed him riding Ao Tenshin into battle, shield raised and grin wide.
Tennis with business partners. Sponsors watching social dia. Cassandra maybe making money. not saying bro too fast.
He nodded to himself.
That was simple enough.
His boss wasn’t doing this out of pure kindness. The company must have benefited a lot since Cassandra Selfmore had shown so interest in Martin, and in them because of Martin. Moreover, his boss wasn’t stupid. Martin’s potential was huge.
So he is betting on becoming huge. Well, of course. I’ll reciprocate in the future if possible.
Martin understood that much.
He was simple, but he was not blind. People did not open doors for others without a reason, especially not in business. His boss saw a chance, and Martin happened to be standing in the middle of it.
That was fine by him because a chance was still a chance.
After all, this boss could have simply ignored him or maybe even made his life worse. He could have treated Martin like so lucky idiot attached to Cassandra Selfmore’s na and squeezed what little advantage he could get from him without offering anything back.
Instead, he had promoted him, given him advice, and now invited him to a place where Martin could et people he would never have t on his own. To Martin, that counted.
Martin might have been crude. He might have been simple. He might have needed soone to explain why likes were basically custors.
But kindness was sothing he understood without a lecture.
If soone treated him well, he rembered. If soone gave him a hand, he tried to return it. And if his boss was betting on him now, Martin would make sure that bet paid off soday.
Martin was the type to always reciprocate kindness.
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