New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 13. Overdrive (3)

There was a reason Graduate Students were called ‘zombies’.

Living in the Research Lab, eating and sleeping there, their emotions dried up in a life where they couldn’t even get sunlight, let alone enjoy cultural activities.

But today was different.

As soon as I entered the Research Lab, the Research Lab Members came running toward me, stamping their feet anxiously.

“What’s wrong?”

“Something really big happened. We really didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”

“Calm down and tell me slowly. What happened?”

“Rollbook users suddenly exploded. What was originally used only by a few Universities in Seoul has now spread to Universities Nationwide, and even High Schools have started using it. On top of that, even graduates are flocking in, causing traffic to explode.”

Traffic overload.

It wasn’t as big a problem as I thought.

“Wouldn’t that just slow down the Server a bit?”

“The problem is the cost. Until now, we’ve been using Korea University’s Server, but the School said they can’t handle it anymore and notified us to stop the service. Moreover, they billed us for last month’s usage, and…”

There was a reason the Students were so tense.

The Invoice on the desk showed an amount too large for them to handle.

“Last month’s usage fee was… 2 million won?”

“That’s not all. They even made threatening remarks, saying they could file criminal charges if we don’t pay the usage fee.”

Now I understood the situation.

The Research Lab Members had fallen into a panic state due to the excessive usage fees.

Although it was a Website I created, since they were the ones who used it, I didn’t necessarily need to take responsibility.

But I decided to help them. Because I needed them.

“I’ll take responsibility for it.”

“But, Lee Jung-hoo… How can a new employee handle 2 million won? We’ll try to gather money little by little.”

I was grateful for their concern about my Bank Account balance.

But there was something they didn’t know.

1 billion won was sleeping peacefully in my Bank Account.

However, it would be awkward to brag about money, and revealing that I had a lot of money didn’t seem like a good idea, so I came up with a plausible excuse.

“Ah, I think you misunderstood. When I said I’d take responsibility, I meant I would bill The Company. This level of cost can be quickly resolved by submitting it to The Company under the name of educational support expenses.”

“Really? Phew… We’re saved. When I first saw the Invoice, I thought my heart was going to burst through my ribs.”

“But what caused the traffic to suddenly explode? It was originally a Website used only by some people.”

“The primary cause was it being featured in a University Campus magazine. Starting from that, it spread to Universities Nationwide, and later Major Media Companies introduced Rollbook as a ‘next-generation promising IT service,’ making it known to the public.”

From university magazines to major daily newspapers.

I wondered if this was really possible without any promotion.

Usually, other websites spent enormous amounts on Lobbying or mobilized personal connections to get media exposure.

But Rollbook had never even asked anyone for promotion, let alone advertising. It had come this far purely through word of mouth.

That’s why I felt uncomfortable.

Because something I hadn’t planned had occurred.

No matter how good it was, I didn’t want anything outside my expected range.

“We were too lucky.”

“But there’s one fortunate thing. The Ministry of Information and Communication contacted us. Through the Professor, they said if we just apply, we can be immediately selected for the IT support project.”

“The Ministry of Information and Communication contacted you first too? Hmm, strange things are happening one after another.”

“The Website is so well-made, and there’s virtually no alternative. It’s a service that’s absolutely necessary in this era.”

It wasn’t entirely bad that my work was receiving high praise.

If it was a Website that the Ministry of Information and Communication was interested in, I needed to take action immediately.

“Do you have organized materials about the Website?”

“We have something organized separately because the campus magazine requested it.”

“Please send those materials to my Email right now.”

As soon as I received the Email, I immediately took out my Mobile Phone.

Then I called the busy Practical Affairs Team.

“This is Employee Lee Jung-hoo.”

[Didn’t you leave work? You should rest when you get Home, why are you calling? We’re already overflowing with work.]

“Manager Kim, I have an urgent request. Please prioritize the Website Materials I sent by Email over the PDA-related Patent.”

[I’m looking at it now… What is this? It looks like Website Materials?]

“It’s a Website I created. I think we need to register the Patent as quickly as possible.”

After saying that, I suddenly felt uneasy.

This was something that went against my routine.

The Company and studies were separate routines, and this incident had broken down that boundary.

Nevertheless, it was absolutely necessary to protect what was mine.

[You created a Website? Then of course we should protect it with a Patent. Department Manager! Our Youngest Employee created a Website and wants to register a Patent!]

[Really? Of course we should. Hey! Everyone stop what you’re doing! Tear apart the Website our Youngest Employee made down to the nano level and register every single thing that can be patented!]

“I’ll bear all the costs. This Patent is a personal matter, so it doesn’t qualify for Bonus payment requirements.”

I brought up cost burden to maintain boundaries.

But the Department Members didn’t even pretend to listen to me.

[What does that matter? What if someone steals the Website our Youngest Employee made! Don’t worry because it doesn’t matter if we can’t get a Bonus. Right, Department Manager?]

[Of course. How many times have we benefited from our Youngest Employee so far. We should provide this level of free service. Right?]

[Exactly! We’re busy, so we’ll hang up now. You just work hard on what you’re doing.]

Beep beep-.

Manager Kim unilaterally hung up the phone.

Even if I tried to pretend this never happened now, these weren’t people who would listen.

The water was already spilled, so now all I could do was what I was capable of.

“If we receive support from the Ministry of Information and Communication, do we have to share equity or part of the revenue?”

“There’s nothing like that at all. You just need to submit reports on time. That’s why university Research Labs try to secure national projects by any means.”

“How much is the support fund?”

“At minimum 10 million won, and up to 20 million won is possible. The only condition is that if commercialization succeeds, we’d need to include a small government logo.”

Government logo?

While it didn’t seem like a big problem, I had to consider even the worst-case scenarios.

If I later sold this website or commercialized it, the government could become a constraint.

There was no need to be tied down for a mere 20 million won in support.

Of course, this was only possible because I had over 1 billion won in my bank account.

“Let’s not take the government funding. Writing reports is bothersome, and it could cause problems later.”

“Lee Jung-hoo’s company would have to cover all the costs then. Will that be okay? Right now it costs about 2 million won monthly to maintain, but if users increase, server costs could skyrocket. It could easily exceed 3 million won per month.”

“That’s completely manageable. The company doesn’t skimp on these things. And may I make a proposal?”

The research lab members listened with curiosity.

“Would you consider properly managing this rollbook website from the research lab? Of course, we’d provide management fees, even if not a huge amount.”

“We can receive management fees too?”

“I’d need to discuss it with the company, but about 2 million won per month should be possible. It’s not a large amount, but it’s better than managing the website for free like now, isn’t it?”

It was the optimal structure.

A way to use quality personnel with minimal labor costs.

Though I thought I might have offered too little.

For employing undergraduate and graduate students from Korea’s top university, I offered 2 million won total, not even per person.

But the research lab members didn’t think that way.

Some even clapped and cheered.

“You’ll give us 2 million won? Wow! Now we don’t have to worry about chicken money!”

“Honestly, we were managing this website because we needed it anyway, and now we can get paid and use the website freely too. We absolutely have to do this.”

“And it’s a website Lee Jung-hoo made. Isn’t Lee Jung-hoo one of our family too? Considering all the chicken and pig’s feet we’ve mooched off him, we definitely should do this.”

This is why I loved the research lab.

They didn’t mind being cogs in the machine, and they were people who lived for their work more than anyone.

Deceiving such people would be wrong.

And to maintain the current structure, more carrots were needed.

“Instead, I’ll share some equity in the website with you. I can’t give much, but about 2% per person.”

“There are 5 people in our research lab, so you’re giving away 10% equity. Is it okay to give that much? Will the company allow it?”

“I’ll make it happen somehow. Having equity won’t mean money right now, but if it gets commercialized or sold later, you should be able to get something.”

“Actually, we’d be fine without equity, but we won’t refuse if you’re offering.”

Actually, 10% equity was also small.

No matter how much the rollbook website grew, it wouldn’t become big money.

Still, sharing equity was necessary to keep the research lab members tied in.

And it didn’t matter if the website succeeded.

If that happened, 10% equity would have tremendous value.

Since the research lab members were handling everything from website management to updates and maintenance, that level of compensation wasn’t wasteful.

“I’ll start paying from this month. And since we can’t use Korea University’s server anymore, please handle the server migration too.”

“We’ve done corporate partnership projects several times! That’s a piece of cake. Once the money comes in, we can finish it in an hour, let alone a day.”

“Then please discuss with service providers and finalize contracts. Send me the invoices, and I’ll transfer payment within 10 minutes.”

The research lab members were much more skilled than me in this area.

They had already compiled a list of candidate server companies and even debated which ones were better.

“Oh, but these companies usually prefer long-term contracts of a year or more. 5% discount for 3 months prepaid, 10% for 6 months, and up to 20% discount for 12 months prepaid.”

“Hmm… this website should last at least a year, right?”

“A year? I think it’ll last 10 years.”

“If we keep updating and adding features properly, 20-30 years should be no problem.”

The speakers were none other than university students and graduate students who were actual users.

Many of them were from computer science departments, and if people who had used countless websites said so, it was trustworthy.

“Alright. Let’s go with one year prepaid.”

“Really? Server, network lines, and other miscellaneous costs combined exceed 40 million won. Can the company pay such a large amount at once?”

“Don’t worry about money. Once contracts are signed, I can transfer payment today.”

“Wow! Working with corporations is definitely convenient in this way. Then I’ll contact the service providers right away!”

Some might think it was excessive investment for a website made in one day.

But every time I looked at the rollbook website, I could feel that the gears inside weren’t a simple structure.

Right now there were just a few gears turning slowly, but around them were empty spaces for countless axles to connect.

Those empty spaces represented infinite expandability and potential, and believing in that possibility, I could invest without hesitation.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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