New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 36

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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 36. United States Expansion (1)

 

 

 

While I was briefly reading the article published in the newspaper.

A voice calling me came from a completely unexpected place.

 

“CEO Jung-hu! I’ve completed the first design for the prepaid card. Please check it!”

 

It was Yu Min-jung’s voice.

I had never seen her come to work, but her voice came from deep inside the office.

 

“When did you come to work?”

“I came to work yesterday. I just didn’t leave.”

“Then you were in the office all night? I was in the office too?”

“I was so focused on working that I didn’t notice. CEO Jung-hu was also working so hard that you didn’t know I was here, right?”

 

We were both so absorbed in our work that we failed to notice each other’s presence.

 

“You must be tired, you don’t have to come to work today. Just let me check your work and then go home.”

“All-nighters are basic at Art School. When doing final projects, I stayed in the workshop for over a week. Well.”

“Still, please rest well today. I’ll just check the design and send you home.”

“Then I’m grateful.”

 

Yu Min-jung took out 7 different prepaid card designs.

They were designs that went beyond basic sketches to include completed coloring and backgrounds. It was hard to believe these were works completed in just one day.

 

“Please explain.”

“Since students are the main customer base, I kept it as simple as possible, and I also left space considering future collaborations with idols or characters.”

“They look good. What does everyone think?”

 

The employees who had finished coming to work showed interest in the prepaid card designs.

They were all science students so their aesthetic sense wasn’t particularly high, but they could still feel that the quality of Yu Min-jung’s work was considerable.

 

“They’re really good?”

“We could launch them as they are.”

“What would science students know? If an Art Student made it, we just trust and go with it.”

 

It was a result that satisfied everyone.

While we were looking at the prepaid card designs for quite a while.

Kim Sang-sik called everyone with an urgent voice.

 

“Big trouble! Traffic is exploding, probably because of the article. The server has slowed down, and at this rate it might crash.”

“Contact the server company and request expansion. And let’s also consider temporarily suspending unnecessary services.”

“CEO! They say it was reported not only in newspaper articles but also on broadcast news! That’s why traffic is exploding like this!”

 

The employees moved busily to prevent server crashes.

When I accessed it directly, the speed was noticeably slow, and the payment system was also occasionally causing errors.

 

Although traffic explosion phenomena had occurred several times before.

This was the first time we had such an explosive response, making it difficult to even access the website.

 

“It was on broadcast news too? The Branch Manager seems to have gone a bit overboard this time.”

“First, we’ve blocked the comment function and started traffic management. And we’ll post a notice that the personal page customization function will be suspended for 30 minutes.”

“Let’s hold out that way until the server is expanded.”

 

We used every means to prevent the website from crashing.

We barely held out until the server company completed the expansion, and only when traffic gradually stabilized could we finally lean back in our chairs and rest.

 

“It’s not just once or twice, every time an event breaks out, traffic explodes.”

“But we can’t just increase servers indefinitely, this is a big problem.”

“Even though the fund covers all costs, we can’t excessively increase servers.”

“In the end, we’ll have to repeat this every time there’s an event.”

 

Actually, I had been thinking about this problem for a while.

A way for Rollbook to continue growing while managing traffic.

And recently, I had found some clues.

 

“Could everyone gather for a moment? There’s something very important to discuss.”

“Is it about the traffic problem?”

“It’s about solving traffic issues, of course, but it’s also about Rollbook’s future.”

 

As my tone became heavier than usual, the employees also put away their playfulness and quietly sat at the round table.

 

“What are you planning to do?”

“In the end, isn’t the traffic problem because too many functions are gathered on Rollbook?”

“That’s true. Rollbook is the only website where you can manage personal pages, do secondhand trading, have communities, and even listen to music.”

“So I want to split up Rollbook.”

 

We added many functions to Rollbook to increase users.

Thanks to that, we could gather many users in a short time, but we also gained the disadvantage of a heavy website and the fatal weakness of traffic explosions.

 

“You mean dividing the website?”

“Personal pages, community, market. We’ll divide it into three websites like this first.”

“Certainly, if we divide it, traffic management would become easier, but wouldn’t existing users be confused?”

 

Users prefer familiar systems.

Reorganization means departure, so voices of concern arose.

 

“That’s why we need to proceed with the reorganization as quickly as possible. Before more users become familiar with our website. And if we make it well, won’t the users who left come back?”

“But if we divide the website into three, wouldn’t it be more inconvenient? For us and for users too?”

“That’s why I want to introduce a new concept. Building one big building. Market on the 1st floor, community on the 2nd floor, personal space on the 3rd floor. It’s one building, but each floor has a different role.”

 

Just because it’s separated from Rollbook doesn’t mean it’s a completely different website.

It was a concept where branches extend in different directions, but ultimately share the same roots.

 

“I still don’t understand well. If we separate functions, won’t they become different websites anyway?”

“Think of it as an integrated service concept. For example, if you sign up for Rollbook community, you can use other Rollbook sites without separate registration.”

“So, you can use all websites with one ID.”

“That’s right. I compared it to a building earlier, right? That integrated ID is like an ‘elevator’. Just like you can go to any floor by pressing a button, you can directly access the functions you need with one account.”

 

Kim Sang-sik, who had been listening quietly, suddenly pulled out a thick specialized textbook from under his desk.

Then he flipped through the pages for a while and pointed to a passage.

 

“I’ve seen the concept the CEO explained somewhere before! It’s a term only specialists know. It’s very similar to the concept of ‘platform’.”

“Ah! You mean Java platform or MS platform? I learned about that in my major classes too.”

 

The word platform was new to me.

But most employees who majored in computer science, except for me, knew this term.

I quickly looked into the specialized textbook and could see it was very similar to what I had in mind.

 

“That’s right. What I want to create is exactly a platform.”

“The platform concept hasn’t been applied to Internet sites yet. Is it possible?”

“It’s definitely possible. Rollbook would serve as the entrance and we’d keep adding sites with new functions.”

 

It wasn’t just possible.

When I first thought of the platform concept, I heard such a magnificent harmony that it felt like my eardrums would burst.

Not only that, but the gear structure that had only been transparent became clear.

 

“Internet radio service could also become a site that goes into the platform.”

“Exactly! Items bought from the market could be used on all Rollbook sites, and after secondhand market transactions, reviews or thank-you messages could be posted on the community or pages!”

 

Thanks to the word platform, explanations became easier.

All the specialists immediately understood what I was trying to create.

 

“If we reference the methods of Windows or OS, we could make it without much difficulty. The problem would be ‘how to divide the functions’.”

“It’s fine if functions overlap. As long as the identity is clear, having some duplicate functions is no problem at all. We can add region-based functions to both community sites and secondhand markets.”

“Now I understand exactly what the CEO wants!”

 

Everyone got excited and came up with ideas.

And Yu Min-jung, the only non-specialist, quietly listened to the conversation and casually threw out a comment.

 

“But isn’t personal privacy a bit lacking? How about adding friend functions or follow functions? Sometimes you want to communicate only with people you want to.”

“That’s a great idea! Let’s add follow functions.”

“And how about applying the scoring function from the secondhand market to other places? Like putting heart marks on friends’ posts or being able to express dislike?”

 

Unlike us who focused on functionality.

Yu Min-jung was thinking with emphasis on emotions and communication, and we accepted her ideas completely.

 

Her ideas were like paint.

On the structure we created, Yu Min-jung was adding color.

 

“Let’s also add functions to express likes and dislikes.”

“Engineering students might not know this well, but popular people actually care about how many friends they have around them. Having many followers can become power. So they’ll work desperately to increase their follower count.”

 

Again, no one could relate to her words.

It was a story far removed from me and the engineering student employees.

 

“Is that so?”

“I don’t really know. In engineering school, eating alone is normal, and when we gather, it’s just drinking and playing pool together.”

 

Yu Min-jung didn’t stop there.

She even honestly expressed the feelings she had while using Rollbook.

 

“Actually, Rollbook feels like throwing all the most delicious dishes into one pot. It’s not pretty, and the taste gets muddled.”

“You’ve been thinking about function division for a while.”

“Honestly speaking, there’s no need to sprinkle all kinds of seasonings on premium wild sea bream. The better the service, the better it is to keep it simple.”

 

The unique sensibility of art students that engineering students don’t know.

We trusted her sensibility and incorporated her ideas into the new system.

 

***

 

The next day.

I arrived at Nexfin for work at exactly 7:51.

After exchanging light greetings and sitting down, I noticed Post-it notes densely stuck on my monitor.

 

“Employee Lee, there were really many calls looking for you yesterday.”

“I’ll check them.”

 

MS, Apple, and PayPal.

PayPal especially contacted me almost daily.

I conducted technical discussions through email to integrate the simple payment system.

 

Not only Post-it notes but my mailbox was also packed.

More than half were emails from PayPal.

I translated their technical documents and organized replies one by one.

 

Just as I had sent several emails, the office phone rang.

 

[Mister Lee! I received your email well. The security method you devised this time was really impressive. We’re trying to apply it to our system, could we get some additional materials?]

[Sorry, but who is this?]

[Ah, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Steve Chen. Just call me Steve comfortably. From today, I’m in charge of security-related content.]

 

Every single PayPal employee had expert-level knowledge.

And each person’s responsible part was clearly divided, making it feel like one person was an entire department.

 

[I’ll send it by email.]

[That would be great for me. Oh! And the design applied to Rollbook was really good. I’d like to discuss design-related matters too, is that possible?]

[I’ll let you know about that part by email too.]

[Please contact me by today!]

 

When I put down the handset, cold sweat flowed.

Not because of the difficulty of technical development, but because of the pressure English gave me.

Thanks to the English conversation lessons with the Branch Manager, I could manage simple communication, but whenever slightly complex terms came up, my head would freeze.

 

“For design-related matters, I can pass it to Min-jeong.”

 

As a Korea University graduate, she was quite good at English.

Since she was supplementing the design of Rollbook that I created, I tossed the work to her.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Now I can finally get some work done.’

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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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