New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 192

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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 192. Project Launch (2)

The Yongsan Station project was pushed forward at rapid speed.

Since the Blue House and all government departments had already reached agreement, and Tiger Fund was bearing all costs, no National Assembly budget review was needed.

Thanks to this, most procedures could proceed at an abnormally fast pace.

“Branch Manager! The Yongsan District land purchase contracts have all been completed.”

“Finally, ownership of the Yongsan District has been transferred to us.”

“And approval for the Yongsan Station underground construction and redevelopment project just came through.”

“How long will it take to break ground?”

“Usually large-scale projects like this require at least a year of preparation… but this case is different. With all departments cooperating, we can break ground in 6 months.”

Even 6 months felt long,

but considering this was a mega-scale national construction project, this speed was actually very fast.

“Has the President of Daehyeon Construction arrived?”

“He just arrived.”

“Please bring him in right away.”

For this project to proceed properly, Daehyeon Construction needed to firmly hold the center.

Thanks to Tiger Fund’s full support, Daehyeon Construction was solidly maintaining its position as the #1 construction company by construction volume, with sufficient capability to handle mega-scale projects.

“You called for me, Branch Manager!”

“You came early. You’ve heard the news, right?”

“About the Yongsan development project? Really… thank you!”

President Shin Do-young still maintained his soldier-like upright posture,

but unable to hide his joy, the corners of his mouth kept twitching upward.

It was understandable. This project would explosively boost Daehyeon Construction’s revenue.

“This project is equivalent to rebuilding an entire city. And since we need to proceed with three different construction processes simultaneously, it’s also a very challenging project.”

“We’ll mobilize all of Daehyeon Construction’s capabilities to ensure success!”

“Good. However, if we proceed with underground construction, redevelopment, and super high-rise building construction simultaneously, numerous difficulties will certainly arise in the process.”

“We’ll overcome any difficulties!”

Even though Daehyeon Construction was the industry leader,

the Yongsan Station development project was a mega-scale project that transcended those dimensions.

Since a single small mistake could lead to losses in the hundreds of billions of won, I needed to directly manage the important parts.

“President Shin, I have a few things to ask of you.”

“I’m listening!”

“Construction material prices will likely continue rising over the next few years. With the prolonged Iraq War and expanded infrastructure investment in China and Eastern Europe, a highly volatile environment has been created.”

“Indeed, material prices have been fluctuating dramatically day by day recently.”

Materials account for more than half of construction costs.

Especially in large-scale projects like this, even a small increase in material prices would instantly inflate total costs to astronomical levels.

“So I’d like you to pre-order core materials. I don’t mean securing the entire quantity in advance. But securing just 1-2 years’ worth could save hundreds of billions of won in costs.”

“By core materials… do you mean H-beams and special steel?”

“Correct. Please secure as much as possible without creating storage problems. If warehouses are insufficient, I’ll arrange for you to use Rollbook Mart logistics warehouses or affiliate company warehouses.”

Ideally, I wanted to secure all core materials needed for construction.

But bringing in too much quantity at once would inevitably cause storage and management costs to explode.

To avoid a situation where the tail wags the dog, I concluded that pre-ordering only 1-2 years’ worth of core materials was the solution.

This way, we could make plans predictable.

It was a method to increase stability, reduce risks, and eliminate unnecessary variables as much as possible.

“I’ll coordinate with affiliates to determine maximum obtainable quantities, then proceed with pre-orders.”

“And no matter how Daehyeon Construction is Korea’s #1, you may lack specialists with extensive super high-rise experience. Please recruit necessary personnel or seek consultation not just from Korea but overseas as well.”

Korea still didn’t have many super high-rise buildings.

Of course, they claimed to have gained experience through overseas construction, but it was inevitably insufficient.

Lacking technology and experience ultimately had to be filled with people.

“We happen to have several construction companies under creditor management. Personnel from those companies could be recruited without difficulty.”

“Good. If necessary, bring entire departments wholesale. Technical teams, design teams, structural teams… the more personnel, the better.”

“But… expanding personnel like that could become problematic later. When all projects end, there will be a period of reduced work, which could create cost burdens from excess personnel.”

I answered with a smile.

I was also planning other projects for Daehyeon Construction.

“There won’t be a shortage of work. Not while Daehyeon Construction is under Tiger Fund.”

“I’ll trust you, Branch Manager, and aggressively pursue talent recruitment.”

“An era is coming where scale equals competitiveness. So don’t be too afraid of expansion.”

There was a need to maximize Daehyeon Construction’s scale.

That way, we could sell it at a higher price.

While I had no plans to sell semiconductors or other companies, Daehyeon Construction was different.

Daehyeon Construction was a company acquired with the premise of sale from the beginning.

To use it as an excellent negotiation card, we had to maximize its scale.

“I’ll personally work to recruit talent! And I’ll definitely make the Yongsan project a success.”

“Good. But when can the Tiger Fund New Headquarters be completed?”

“Since we haven’t even broken ground yet, I can’t say definitively, but if all procedures are completed this year… completion is possible in about 5-6 years.”

“5 years would be perfect.”

5 years from now was exactly when my plan would align.

Selling Daehyeon Construction when the Tiger Fund New Headquarters was completed would create a beautiful picture.

“To complete within 5 years, every element must align perfectly. From underground construction to commercial district development to super high-rise construction, all proceeding simultaneously… the schedule is extremely tight.”

“Invest as much capital as needed. And the government has agreed to provide full cooperation. In that case, couldn’t we sufficiently accelerate the schedule?”

“If the three elements of capital, personnel, and government cooperation align, it’s definitely possible.”

“Tiger Fund will spare no support to prevent any discord.”

President Shin Do-young’s eyes radiated the spirit of a soldier before war.

Just seeing those eyes gave me confidence that commuting to the new headquarters within 5 years would be no problem.

***

Procedures proceeded at tremendous speed.

Since not all approval procedures were complete yet,

Yongsan Station underground construction couldn’t start immediately.

But since ownership of the Yongsan District itself had already been transferred to us, foundation work could begin immediately.

Now I could finally breathe easier.

I had time to check on work I’d briefly neglected due to the new headquarters issue.

First, I visited the prototype department that was modifying iPods into multimedia devices.

“Please report on progress.”

“We’ve created prototypes according to the direction you specified, Branch Manager. We’re now almost at completion stage, just need to refine the external form a bit.”

Manager Park, the department’s center, brought the prototype.

Even amid my busy schedule, I’d continuously provided direction through emails and calls.

The prototype department had brought the finished product based on my instructions.

“The external form has definitely taken shape now.”

“We’ve installed all external devices internally.”

Indeed, there were no longer any external devices hanging all over it.

It was just slightly larger than the original iPod, a size and weight that could easily be held in one hand.

“Hmm, now you can’t tell it’s an iPod just by looking at the exterior.”

“Everything has changed – size, shape, and even LCD size.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“The Support Team worked much harder than us. This was possible because they procured everything from batteries to semiconductors for miniaturization.”

This prototype was literally a result created by gathering Tiger Fund’s essence.

GL Battery independently developed and supplied high-capacity compact batteries optimized for portable devices,

and Dae-hyeon Semiconductor, though not perfect yet, even manufactured dedicated system semiconductors customized for the device.

“Everyone worked hard. I hope there are results worthy of that hard work.”

I pressed the power button.

Then the LCD, twice as large as the original iPod, began lighting up.

It started up with Daehyeon Semiconductor’s logo instead of Apple’s logo.

“The loading speed has definitely decreased significantly.”

“Thanks to using system semiconductors, the loading time has been greatly reduced.”

The loading speed wasn’t the only thing that had changed.

I moved the interface by rotating the wheel with my thumb.

The scroll moved down very naturally. Even the subtle delays commonly seen in existing iPods were barely noticeable.

“The response speed is also very good.”

“Thanks to Rollbook and the Development Team optimizing the UI. We allocated slightly more graphics memory than existing iPods to minimize screen transition delays.”

Next, I selected the video section and ran a test file.

The video played simultaneously with the touch, and everything from resolution to stuttering issues had been improved.

“The video playback quality is also satisfactory.”

“Currently, 30-frame playback is also stably implemented. If the system semiconductor’s performance improves just a little more, games and high-resolution videos will be fully possible!”

Manager Park explained the prototype with a face full of pride.

However, not everything was satisfactory.

As I directly handled the device, areas that needed improvement were already catching my eye.

“But the touch feel isn’t that great.”

“Currently, we’re applying resistive panels used in PDAs. With current technology, this response speed is the limit.”

“I understand other methods also exist.”

“Are you perhaps referring to the capacitive method? That’s technology that remains at the theoretical stage. There are no actual cases of development and commercialization yet.”

The current touch method gave a strange unpleasant feeling.

It was a sensation I had felt when using PDAs too.

But on this device with much more multimedia functionality, that inconvenience was revealed more clearly.

“Would the touch feel be much better using the capacitive method?”

“Theoretically, yes. Since it’s a completely different principle, much smoother and more intuitive touch becomes possible. However, there are simply no commercialized cases yet.”

“Good. Let’s check the related materials for a moment.”

Omnis was also connected to the Prototype Department’s computer.

I logged in with the administrator ID.

And began quickly skimming through materials and papers about capacitive touch methods.

From papers over 10 years old to recent experimental research results.

Countless materials spread across the Omnis screen.

Then one sentence caught my attention.

[Capacitive touch changes electrical signals just by the user’s finger ‘coming up’ onto the panel.]

What an innovative concept this was.

Not a method that only recognizes when pressed,

but technology that responds just by a finger ‘touching’ it.

Of course, it wasn’t a phrase I was seeing for the first time.

When making fingerprint recognition sensors before,

I had applied some principles of capacitive technology.

But then and now were different.

Much more diverse information had entered my mind, and the range of applications where this technology could be used had also broadened.

Therefore, the moment I saw this phrase again, I felt an enormous gear being created while perfectly meshing with other gears.

“We must definitely develop capacitive panels.”

“Development is impossible with the Prototype Department alone. And there are almost no companies conducting full-scale research on capacitive technology.”

“Exactly two places are researching it. Samjin and GL LCD.”

“Would collaboration with those two places be possible?”

Only the two largest LCD companies were conducting research.

Then to develop capacitive panels fastest, we had to collaborate with those two places.

“Let’s make collaboration requests to Samjin and GL.”

“If that works out, capacitive panel development wouldn’t be impossible.”

Collaboration in various businesses had always gone smoothly.

I believed without concern that capacitive panels would be the same.

But this time.

My expectations were completely off the mark.

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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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