New Employees With an Annual Salary of 1 Trillion Won - Chapter 38

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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 38. United States Expansion (3)

 

 

 

I still wasn’t convinced.

Maybe the coach really did want the position change for Hae-seong’s sake.

 

“Would it be okay to think about the position change a little more?”

“You just need to decide before winter training. However, if you refuse the position change, participating in training will be difficult.”

“Are you saying participation is impossible even if we pay the training fees?”

“Winter training only takes starting-level players. We don’t take backup players.”

 

The coach left his firm words and got up from his seat.

We watched his retreating figure for a moment before going outside.

 

“Jung-hu, what’s going on? If he just changes positions, Hae-seong can continue playing baseball, right?”

“I’ll handle this matter myself. Mother, please don’t worry about it.”

“Maybe the gifts were too weak? Should I have given an envelope instead of sunglasses? From what I heard from the Parent Association, they prepare envelopes every semester.”

“It’s really okay. Mother, please go in first. I’ll talk with Hae-seong briefly and then come in.”

 

I smiled as brightly as possible to reassure Mother.

I pushed Mother’s still-anxious back to send her home, then called my younger brother to come out.

 

“Oh, you came too, hyung?”

“I talked with the coach, and you’re really okay, right?”

“What, what do you mean?”

“The coach said he wants you to change positions. Explain what’s going on.”

 

My younger brother had always smiled brightly.

Even on days when he trained to the point of exhaustion, even when his thighs were bruised, he never lost his smile.

That younger brother’s expression gradually hardened, then he opened his mouth while choking back tears.

 

“You know our school’s performance wasn’t good last year, right?”

“I heard you were eliminated in the Seoul preliminaries.”

“This year’s performance is also hard to expect. Forget professional draft picks, even university admission is almost impossible except for a very few.”

 

Baseball wasn’t something that could be done with individual skill alone.

As a team sport, you needed good team performance to get attention.

No matter how outstanding your abilities were, it was useless if you couldn’t get a chance to take the stage.

 

“What does that have to do with your position?”

“Because even if the team does poorly, an ace pitcher can go to a good university.”

“I understand that. Then Jung Young-su can be the ace. There’s no need for you to change positions, is there?”

“Because it creates comparison. If the backup pitcher does better, the ace pitcher won’t get attention!”

 

Frustration exploded from my younger brother’s face.

The story was that if the backup pitcher threw better than the ace, it created comparison, so they wanted him to change positions.

 

“They want to make you an outfielder to support the ace pitcher?”

“What choice do I have? Young-su’s Father is a school Support Committee executive and the Baseball Club Parent Association President. He apparently paid more than half of the winter training fees too.”

 

What a dirty world it was.

Not just in baseball clubs, but this kind of thing was common in many High Schools.

I had even heard that in academic High Schools, people gave bribes to submit university applications.

 

“So what do you want to do? Do you want to keep pitching? Or will you play outfield?”

“Just because I want to doesn’t mean I can decide. If I want to continue baseball, I have to play outfield.”

“Just tell me. Do you want to keep pitching?”

“I want to! I want to, but I can’t choose!”

 

My younger brother finally showed tears.

Seeing his frustration burst out, something hot rose up inside me too.

 

“I understand. I’ll try to do something about it somehow. Just practice as usual this week.”

“What are you going to do? If you interfere carelessly, I might just get cut.”

“Do you think I’m stupid? I won’t do things like making it public or filing complaints, so don’t worry.”

“I’m telling you in advance because nothing will work. The coach has all authority over the baseball club. No one can interfere even if the coach arranges the lineup however he wants.”

 

My younger brother was desperate to play baseball.

He even stamped his feet, worried that I might move wrong and prevent him from playing baseball.

 

“I’ll handle it as quietly as possible. Let me try what I can do first, and if that doesn’t work, then we’ll change positions or whatever.”

“You really have to be careful. If I fall out of the coach’s favor, I’ll be pushed to backup.”

“I told you I understand. I’ll make sure you don’t suffer any damage.”

 

I sent my worried younger brother back to the Training Ground.

Then I called the Branch Manager to request a meeting.

 

***

 

How many people visit The Company during vacation?

Especially if they go voluntarily rather than being ordered to, their mental state would be questioned.

 

But today, despite being on vacation, I visited The Company.

Because I had arranged to conduct the meeting with the Branch Manager at The Company.

 

“I was surprised that Employee Lee asked to meet first. Is something wrong?”

“It’s not official business but a personal problem. I’m sorry for contacting you like this.”

“What’s public and private between us? The Company runs well when Staff Members do well. Don’t worry and tell me. I’ll help with anything.”

 

I couldn’t feel more reassured.

It was something I couldn’t have imagined even a year ago.

Now I could receive help from someone who even played around with owners of major United States corporations.

 

“It’s about my younger brother’s problem.”

 

I explained the baseball club-related problem to the Branch Manager in detail.

The Branch Manager, who had been interested in baseball since his time in the United States, turned red and raised his voice even more than I did.

 

“That kind of barbaric culture still remains? It’s completely rotten.”

“In Korean baseball, the coach’s authority is absolute. Especially when it comes to player selection, there can be no outside interference at all. So I’m not sure what method to use.”

“This is ridiculous! In the United States, coaches also have full authority, but if they made such unfair selections, the school would immediately launch an investigation. Parents wouldn’t just let it slide either.”

 

It’s not that there’s no corruption in the United States.

There’s a reason it’s called the country of lobbying.

Perhaps there could be even worse things than in Korea.

 

But having never seen such petty behavior, the Branch Manager’s voice grew increasingly louder.

 

“It’s not that all of Korean culture is like this, but Younger Brother’s school seems particularly severe.”

“Schools with poor performance tend to have these issues more frequently. Hmm, so how should I help? I can think of several methods off the top of my head.”

“What methods are there?”

 

As expected of the Branch Manager.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t see an answer, but the Branch Manager had already thought of several solutions.

 

“Taking legal action is the orthodox approach. But it takes a long time, and there could be disadvantages for Younger Brother.”

“I’d like to avoid that method if possible.”

“The other method is to use the same tactic the Parent Association President used.”

“You mean to counter money with money?”

 

The Parent Association President who covered half the winter training costs.

Even without knowing the exact amount, I could certainly afford that much.

 

“But the same amount won’t be effective.”

“Is it because of the difference in position?”

“Exactly. Being both a Support Committee executive and Parent Association President means having connections. They probably have considerable influence in high school baseball. So you’d need to use a larger amount.”

 

Money and influence.

Having these two things meant even the coach had to be mindful, making it possible to push competitors out of positions.

 

“If money can solve this, I’ll use the money in my account.”

“The most reliable method is to overwhelm with massive amounts of money. But you need to move as an organization, not as an individual.”

“What kind of organization do you mean?”

“Many companies sponsor high school sports as part of social contribution. Nexpin has grown enough to play that role now.”

 

If Nexpin became a sponsor of the school’s baseball team?

It could disperse the power concentrated in the Support Committee and Parent Association, and secure some influence as well.

 

“But would they accept Nexpin as a sponsoring company? Large corporations might be one thing, but Nexpin still lacks recognition.”

“Tiger Fund can fill that gap. We can actually provide more reliable sponsorship than Korean large corporations.”

“By reliable sponsorship, do you mean financial support?”

“Sponsorship beyond money. We’re an American company from the country of baseball.”

 

The Branch Manager smiled with a slight upturn of his lips.

It was the leisurely confidence of a cat playing with a mouse.

 

“What should I do?”

“Employee Lee doesn’t need to do anything. Just come with me when we visit the school later. I’ll handle all the preparations.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry for taking up your valuable time with this matter.”

“You’re our employee, so this much is necessary. And honestly, it seems like it’ll be fun too. I’m so happy to have an interesting task after such a long time.”

 

The Branch Manager looked genuinely pleased.

I was both grateful and envious of such a Branch Manager.

I still lacked the ability to design the game myself, so I borrowed the Branch Manager’s help.

But I was steadily absorbing the Branch Manager’s methods, so someday I too could become a designer.

 

***

 

After finishing my conversation with the Branch Manager.

I headed from the conference room to the office.

There was no need to go to the office during vacation, but since I was more comfortable at the company than at home, my feet moved toward the office first.

 

“Employee Lee, why did you come to work? Wasn’t it vacation? Did you take a half-day?”

“I was bored just staying at home, so I came out for a bit.”

“You’re really not right in the head either. If you have nothing to do, go to a sauna or something, why come to the company? Or go to a hospital.”

“What hospital do you mean?”

“Psychiatry, of course. You definitely have a problem with your head!”

 

Strangely, hearing Manager Kim’s scolding put my mind at ease.

I felt most stable when I was at the company, more than anywhere else.

Especially when I was with my Nexpin colleagues, no psychological disturbance occurred.

 

“Employee Lee, since you’re here, come over for a moment. Some strange request documents came from MS.”

“What’s the content this time?”

 

The President handed me the request documents with a frowning face.

I mobilized all my limited English skills to read the content.

 

“I see a lot of negative expressions.”

“It’s about not wanting to apply the multitasking function you made to MS OS. They say they don’t want to use the other patents either.”

“They’re refusing to use the patents? I don’t understand. It’s a function that would greatly help the OS.”

 

A completely incomprehensible situation.

This was because MS and I wanted to go in different directions.

 

“MS wants to make the OS as light as possible. But adding the multitasking function would make it heavier, so they don’t like it. Other functions were rejected for similar reasons.”

“Isn’t the OS heavy because MS programs are heavy? And I don’t think a good OS is just one that’s unconditionally light.”

“I think so too, but MS doesn’t. What can we do.”

 

The President interpreted and read the request documents one by one.

The core content was that the technology we recently sent could degrade OS performance, making it difficult to apply.

 

“If this is the case, I don’t understand why they contracted with us in the first place. They said they’d create an operating system that surpasses Palm OS, but now they won’t use any of the functions. Does that make sense?”

“They’re saying they’ll only use something like the basic UI. And from now on, they want us to make the OS as light as possible so MS software runs well.”

 

No one disagreed that MS software was the world’s best.

But I didn’t think they could surpass Palm just by making software exclusively for PDAs.

 

“Making MS software lighter is possible. But would that really be enough? It would be difficult to catch up to Palm with just that.”

“If the client wants it, we have to do it. Just doing that much gets us the Nexpin logo in the OS and a large sum of money.”

“What you’re saying is completely different from when you met Bill Gates in the negotiation room.”

 

Bill Gates was a person with firm vision and broad receptiveness.

However, it seemed that will wasn’t transmitted equally throughout the organization.

 

“Originally, the bigger the organization, the more cooks there are. What actually moves the ship isn’t the chairman but the operations team. It’s common for the chairman’s desired direction to differ from the working staff’s direction.”

“Then which side should we align with?”

“Following the request documents is the right answer. Documents are evidence. That way we won’t get nitpicked later either.”

 

The President, who had worked at large corporations for a long time, seemed accustomed to this situation and remained calm.

I felt it wasn’t the right direction, but if the client told us to do it that way, we had no choice but to comply.

 

And frankly speaking, MS wasn’t our company either.

Me stepping forward to interfere with the client company’s direction might actually be overstepping my authority.

 

“According to the request documents, I’ll proceed with work focused only on software lightweighting.”

“Is it possible?”

“Actually, I was preparing a software lightweighting related patent too. It’s just that the priority was low until now, so it was pushed back.”

“Then raise it to top priority immediately. That way MS won’t complain anymore either.”

 

The relationship with MS had to be maintained continuously.

Until Nexpin secured recognition at the level of a large corporation, MS’s name value was desperately needed.

Then for now, we had no choice but to do what they wanted.

 

But I realized one thing from today’s events.

Collaboration with other companies doesn’t flow according to my will.

Ultimately, to draw the picture I wanted, Nexpin had to grow further, and I had to proceed with collaborations with companies I could control.

 

“I’ll start the lightweighting work right from today.”

“Today is your day off! Stop and go home. Start tomorrow.”

 

The President forcibly chased me outside the door.

I pretended to go home but headed to the Rollbook office to start other work.

 

Though it was a day off, working moments were actually more comfortable for me.

At least here, all the gears meshed together perfectly.

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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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