New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 32
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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 32. Simple Payment System (2)
South Korea in the midst of the venture boom.
Dozens of IT companies were being created every day, and among these new companies, some were conducting industry-academia cooperation projects with Korea University.
“Department Manager, there’s been a really good millennium bug patch released recently. Have you seen it?”
“Where did it come from?”
“I saw Korea University using it. It’s being distributed for free on a site called ‘Rollbook’.”
“They’re releasing that for free? Isn’t it possible they’ve embedded hacking programs in it?”
“It’s being used by all departments at Korea University. Korea University has also officially recognized its stability.”
The word “free” was enough to attract people’s attention by itself.
Especially if it was related to the millennium bug that the media was making such a fuss about these days.
“How good are the effects?”
“We’re currently using the patch distributed by the government, right? But this one is much better. Installation is finished with just one click.”
“There’s something like that? What exactly is this Rollbook site that they’d create something like this? Is it made by a Korea University research lab?”
“I’m not certain, but I heard Rollbook started from the Korea University Computer Science Department research lab.”
“Really? Should we install it too?”
A site and patch created by Korea’s top university.
The name Korea University itself acted like a kind of certificate.
Trust preceded suspicion, and companies installed the patch without hesitation.
“But it says ‘Educational Institution Patch’ here. Is it okay for us to use it?”
“I asked a Korea University student. They said if you’re a company, it’s better to separately request the ‘Enterprise Patch’.”
“Then how do we get it?”
“If you make an official request to the Rollbook site, they’ll send you the enterprise patch separately.”
“What are you doing? Request it right now!”
Similar situations were happening everywhere.
Not only venture companies, but even small and medium-sized financial companies were sending request documents to Rollbook to receive the patch.
Now Rollbook’s recognition was beginning to spread beyond schools to workplaces and industrial sites.
***
The aftermath of the patent I had thrown out was tremendous.
The rotary button and multitasking patents.
More than 20 sub-patents poured out, and the Operations Team and Support Team were sweating bullets organizing their contents.
I was also concentrating on modifying blueprints to fill in the lacking parts when the President urgently called for me.
“Employee Lee! A strange request came in from MS.”
“What kind of request?”
“They’re showing great interest in the millennium bug patch. They want to include what Employee Lee made in the free patch they distribute?”
“Is that all? Is it simply a usage request?”
“No, there’s also content about wanting to develop security systems together in the future. They’re even saying they’ll give us access rights to some of MS’s security systems.”
It was a tremendous proposal.
If we could access MS’s security systems, there would be much more we could learn and much more we could create.
“Isn’t MS trusting us too much? What if we have bad intentions?”
“Of course they wouldn’t reveal everything. They probably mean to share just the basic structure and ask us to supplement any vulnerabilities.”
“But when they distribute our patch, will the Nexfin logo be included too?”
“Of course! Would MS just take what Employee Lee made and use it? The collaboration conditions include inserting the Nexfin logo.”
The Nexfin logo would be included in patches distributed by MS?
There was no more powerful promotion than this.
“If we show them the patent we made this time, they’ll like it even more.”
“Probably so. Even I think the multitasking patent Employee Lee created is a work of art. I don’t know if MS OS will accept it, but it’s definitely groundbreaking technology.”
“I’m also conceptualizing other patents. I’ll make sure our business with MS doesn’t get cut off due to lack of results!”
MS had to be secured at all costs.
For my patents to be properly evaluated, I needed major client companies, and now was the time to utilize MS’s name value.
“I’ll trust only Employee Lee. It’s quitting time now. Go ahead. Do you have English lessons with the Branch Manager today too?”
“Today is a day without lessons. Instead, I have class at Korea University.”
“You’re working hard. See you tomorrow.”
After greeting the President, I headed to Korea University.
The Research Lab Members welcomed me enthusiastically after my long absence.
“Lee Jung-hoo! Why are you only coming now!”
“Did something happen?”
“You don’t know how many patch inquiries came in. It really feels like we got contacted by every small and medium enterprise in Korea.”
It was a patch that even MS had shown interest in.
It was natural for Korean small and medium enterprises with relatively insufficient technology to show interest.
“How are the companies’ reactions?”
“They love it to death, of course. Some places even called several times to confirm that we’d definitely contact them if there are updates.”
It was the reaction I had expected.
While I couldn’t say my patch was perfect, it was simpler and performed better than anything released so far.
“You’ve secured all the contact information, right? They’re all our future customers.”
“Rollbook’s main user base is students. Are you trying to expand customers to include working people too?”
“Many working people are already using it, and now we’re going to expand in earnest. To increase sales, we need to target customers with steady income.”
To increase sales, securing diverse customer segments was necessary.
Especially, we had to capture the hearts of working people with strong purchasing power to maximize sales.
“Lee Jung-hoo, you’ve become quite the businessman now.”
“It happened while trying to operate the site. Are the preparations for monetization all finished now?”
“Of course. We can start trial operations from today as planned. The problem is the payment system. Right now, only bank transfers are possible.”
“The Simple Payment System will be completed soon, so please wait just a little longer.”
Today was originally the day for English lessons with the Branch Manager.
But I postponed the class because I wanted to be part of Rollbook’s monetization launch.
“It’s time. Shall we start now?”
“Please open the Points Shop.”
I clicked with trembling hands.
The Points Shop where users could purchase skins, icons, characters, and even background music finally opened its doors.
“We’ve plastered the main banners on all bulletin boards with Points Shop ads.”
“If we had filled those banner spots with other advertisements, we would have earned millions of won.”
“Millions of won? It would be over ten million won. I hope we can earn that much from the Points Shop.”
Ding!
The first payment notification rang out simultaneously with the opening.
“We have our first paying customer! They charged 50 points.”
“50 points means… they paid 5,000 won. Not a bad start.”
“Right. Oh, someone else just charged points too.”
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The endless notification sounds.
It was the sound of money being transferred to Rollbook’s account.
Countless customers were making bank transfers to charge points, and the notifications kept ringing without stopping for even a second.
“Someone bought products with points too!”
“What did they buy?”
“They purchased a background skin for 5 points.”
Starting with background skins, various products began selling like hotcakes.
And finally, the background music products we had prepared with such difficulty also started selling rapidly.
“We have our first background music purchaser! They must be a male idol fan.”
“As expected, idol fans have incredible purchasing power.”
The background music download rankings have also started operating now.”
We had prepared the background music ranking system in advance.
We needed to show which music was selected most to create competition.
Especially idol fans would definitely want to see their singer reach first place in the rankings.
“I hope the ranking battles will be fierce. And let’s also open the new song request voting page starting tomorrow.”
“Lee Jung-hoo prepared everything, so we can implement it today if needed.”p>
“There’s no law saying only broadcast TV can have ranking battles. Let’s also profit from our ranking system.”
New song requests were also a kind of ranking competition.
Fans wanting to promote hidden or rookie artists would definitely participate actively in voting.
By producing and providing songs with high vote counts as digital music files, we could connect this to stable sales.
“But maybe because it’s the beginning, the sales speed is too fast? The traffic is also much higher than expected. Won’t this crash the server?”
“It’s thanks to plastering the main banner advertisements everywhere. Just in case, please check the server status. Add temporary servers if necessary.”
“I’ll check with the service provider right away.”
“Then I’ll continue monitoring the sales situation.”
Meanwhile, sales continued to rise.
In just 10 minutes, over 1 million won came into Rollbook’s account, and more than 5,000 points were used for product purchases.
“Lee Jung-hoo! The service provider is also in chaos. They’re expanding servers right now!”
“The response is extraordinary. The sales growth curve isn’t slowing down but getting steeper.”
“I think it’s because of the point sharing feature. Already hundreds of people are exchanging points.”
The sharing feature we introduced to supplement the payment system.
When one person bought points, we made it possible to give points to others.
That way, people who had difficulty with bank transfers could easily get points through friends or family.
Of course, we limited the points that could be sent per day to prepare for any potential issues.
“How much time has passed now?”
“One hour has passed! Point purchases have already exceeded 5 million won!”
“The sales speed will probably slow down a bit after midnight, but at this rate, daily sales will easily exceed 20 million won.”
“I’ve heard so much from my IT industry seniors. But I’ve never heard of a venture with daily sales exceeding 20 million won. This is a huge hit!”
The research lab members cheered with overwhelming emotion.
Although it wasn’t a large amount, all the research lab members held small equity shares in Rollbook, so they could truly celebrate as if it were their own success.
“I’d like to have a company dinner, but since today is the first day, we don’t know what variables might occur.”
“I find it fun just watching the sales numbers go up. Why is it so thrilling to just see numbers increase?”
“Let’s skip the company dinner for next time and settle for delivery. Choose whatever you want to eat. Today I’ll buy everything without limit!”
Various delivery foods arrived one after another.
Even during this time, sales continued to rise endlessly, and we couldn’t take our eyes off the monitors while barely eating.
Is this why people don’t sleep in gambling houses?
Just watching numbers go up without doing anything made dopamine surge.
As if everyone was in the same state as me, none of the research lab members even took a nap and kept watch in front of the monitors.
“Twelve hours have passed now.”
“Twelve-hour sales have surpassed 20 million won! Not daily sales, but half-day sales reached a whopping 20 million won!”
“If things go well, daily sales could exceed even 30 million won.”
“Lee Jung-hoo… no, CEO.”
“Yes? What do you suddenly mean by that?”
It was Kim Sang-sik suddenly setting a serious mood.
He looked directly at me as if he had made some big decision and continued speaking.
“I’ve decided. I’ll join Rollbook. I don’t think I’ll ever feel this thrill again if I enter another large corporation.”
“You’ve finally decided. I’ll prepare for you to start from the new year.”
Kim Sang-sik was the beginning.
Other research lab members also expressed their desire to join the company.
“I’ll join too!”
“You still have your doctoral program left.”
“A master’s degree is enough. I can’t stand watching you have all the fun by yourself, senior.”
“I want to go with you too. Actually, I never had any interest in graduate school to begin with. You accept undergraduate graduates too, right?”
The research lab members who were approaching graduation began expressing their decisions one by one.
These were people who wouldn’t budge no matter how much I tried to persuade them before, but they finally changed their minds when faced with the sales figures right before their eyes.
This was also the reason I had specifically visited Korea University today.
I had expected that some people would make up their minds based on the monetization results.
“You’ve made a good decision. Now let’s work together at the Rollbook office instead of the research lab.”
“I guess I should call you CEO now instead of Lee Jung-hoo. Or should it be President?”
“Just call me Employee Lee. That’s more comfortable for me.”
“No way! I’m going to call you CEO. You need to start commuting to work now, right? We’ll handle the monitoring well, so don’t worry and go ahead.”
Rollbook had shown tremendous monetization sales.
But I wasn’t satisfied yet. This was only the beginning.
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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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