Genius Developer Becomes a Tycoon

Chapter 3: The Second Interview

TL: Hanguk

Swish. Swish.

“Hey! We’re here! Wake up! Hey!”

“Uhm?”

We’re here? Where have we arrived? Even though I opened my eyes, my vision was as hazy as if I were in a dense fog.

‘What? Is it daytime? How long was I asleep?’

Shaking my head vigorously, my blurry vision gradually cleared up, and I saw Chunho’s face, slapping my cheek. It was a bright day, not the pitch-dark night with snowflakes swirling in the air.

“You’re truly a valedictorian from Jincheon High School. You even slept soundly while coming for an interview. Don’t you feel nervous at all?”

“Ugh!”

Someone stuck out their head from behind me.

I couldn’t help but be shocked. It was Seungwoo.

“Seungwoo!!! Seungwoo!!”

Surprised, I grabbed Seungwoo’s face and rubbed it vigorously.

“Yuck! What is it? Hey! Let go!”

Seungwoo, more startled than me, pushed my forehead away forcefully.

“Hehe, you must still be sleepy. I guess I’m really good at driving. Even on an icy road, you slept like a log.”

Chunho chuckled while lighting a cigarette.

“Seo Chunho! Don’t smoke in the car.”

“Hey, it’s my car.”

“Hey, the smell of cigarette will stick to our suits.”

“Kahaha, my car is a smoking car. It means you guys are already tainted. Hehehe.”

I couldn’t regain my composure. Was I dreaming? Chunho lighting a cigarette with a lighter, Seungwoo trying to snatch it away.

It felt like watching an old movie. With each blink, my vision became clearer. Chunho with his hair in a sporty style without a single strand of gray, and young Seungwoo wearing old-fashioned horn-rimmed glasses.

My friends from 20 years ago, whom I longed to see again.

‘Yongsu Gas Station!’

As I saw the rustic gas station sign outside the window, I turned my head and glanced at the opposite side. Sure enough, there was an excessively large arch-shaped structure across the road, and the company logo ‘Daehan Semiconductor’ was clearly visible.

‘Did I… Did I travel back in time?’

The memories from 20 years ago had turned into reality and unfolded right before my eyes.

“Hey! Lad! What are you doing there? Hey?”

The old man holding a broom and running after us from afar… Dead people can’t come back to life, so it must be me who traveled back in time.

“Uh, why are you doing this, sir?”

“What do you mean, why? Don’t you see it? Yongsu Gas Station, don’t you see it? You can’t smoke here!”

“Uh…”

Although we were at least 20 meters away from the gas station, the old man repeatedly struck the Bongo truck with his broom while scolding Chunho.

The old man, the owner of the land around the gas station in front of the company. There was a rumor that his land had become a jackpot after he had received it in lieu of taxes when slavery was abolished. Considering that he came out every morning with a broom to clean up, the rumor might be true.

“Move your car if you want to smoke! Hurry up!”

“Ah, sorry, Yongsu Grandpa. Chunho, move the car quickly, there’s a smoking area over there.”

“Uh, okay.”

“Hey, lad? Do you know me?”

“Haha, whether I know you or not, if you don’t know Yongsu Grandpa around here, you must be a spy. I’ll come and greet you again later.”

“… Huh… I’ve never seen you before…”

The flat, egg-shaped land facing the main entrance of Daehan Semiconductor in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do. This land, large enough to fit a small apartment complex, is truly a golden land.

It’s considered valuable now, but in 20 years, a Starbucks will replace the pork belly restaurant in sight, and a three-story building will be worth tens of billions of won.

“There couldn’t be a better location for a company dinner than where tens of thousands of Daehan Semiconductor employees pretend to drink soju at the beginning of the event and use the shuttle bus schedule as an excuse to leave early.”

“Hey, have you been here before?”

“No, I just heard from my seniors at Daehan Semiconductor. They said the gas station’s grandpa here has a strong personality.”

“Oh, really?”

“Chunho, don’t go anywhere and wait here for us.”

“What? I’m busy. Take the intercity bus to go to your boarding house.”

Chunho brought us here because he was worried we might be late for the interview due to the snow. He wouldn’t have done this kindness expecting something in return, but in this second chance at life, I won’t allow any more free kindness, neither for myself nor for others.

“No, there’s no need for that. Starting today, we’ll live here.”

Seungwoo and I were students living in the suburbs of Seoul, and Chunho was a rookie merchant who had just started selling clothes.

“Are you serious, Sangshik? You’re moving here?”

“That’s the plan. Anyway, Chunho! Just wait quietly. We’ll be back soon.”

“Don’t joke around. I have to go! I’m freaking busy.”

“Do you know what dream I just had? The heavens were burning, and as if that wasn’t enough, a dragon was holding us, and hundreds of pigs jumped into your truck. If you leave now, you’ll be kicking away a huge fortune.”

“!!!!”

“I wouldn’t say this for just any dream. It felt so real, like reality! Stay still and be with us all day today. We should share the huge fortune together. We’re friends, right? Isn’t that right?”

“!!!! Ah… okay.”

Chunho, who grew up in a family of merchants for generations, loves dream stories more than anyone else. In a merchant’s family, it’s common to visit fortune tellers, have dream interpretations, or buy talismans.

Even experienced merchants need luck, and for a rookie merchant like Chunho, he needs luck beyond fortune to make a huge success.

In our past lives, we didn’t have even a speck of luck, so in this life, I’ll create my fortune with my own hands.

「DeaHan Semiconductor」

The English logo was visible across the street at the company’s main gate.

The place that almost became my first workplace.

Although it’s difficult now, in 20 years, it will become one of the two major semiconductor companies in our country, along with ShinHwa Electronics.

Having served as a subcontractor for this company for over a decade in my past life, I know its internal affairs and history better than anyone else.

In my previous life, I made the worst choice of applying to graduate school to study again due to the confusion that happened during the interview today.

‘I will never fail in this life.’

In my past life, I lived a life of making others rich.

It was a life no different from failure.

I had such an opportunity, did Seungwoo lead me here? Or did Chunho bring me here after getting into an accident due to the snowy road? So, did Chunho bring me here?

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter.

“Let’s go, Seungwoo!”

“Uh… okay.”

I patted the dumbfounded Seungwoo’s back and headed towards the company’s main gate.

I had nothing to fear.

A PhD in Physics from K University, specializing in thin films, a minor in Materials Science, and having worked for nearly 20 years at a semiconductor foundry subcontractor, I have experienced almost all semiconductor companies.

There would be no one who has dealt with more products, more quality problems, or provided more diverse solutions than me.

‘I think I can enjoy company life?’

I felt great. My memory was intact. In this time frame, I was no different from a max-level technician or a max-level company employee.

It felt like starting a quest in a beginner’s area with max level?

Thinking that company life might be fun, people have to live long and see.

“Final interviewees, please come this way.”

“Please have your second-round acceptance certificate and ID ready in advance.”

People holding red megaphones shouted along with their gestures. The interviewees, all dressed in white shirts and black suits, began to pass through the main gate in a line.

Shinwha Group, which values information security, conducts new employee interviews off-site, but the rough Daehan Group does not take such delicate measures.

Taking the frugality of the founding chairman to heart, they don’t even bother painting the exterior walls of the building.

Moreover, the current Daehan Semiconductor is in a state of legal management, heavily indebted after the IMF crisis.

Although it’s difficult to say that they’re still part of the Daehan Group on paper, it can be assumed that the organizational culture of the group is still being maintained, as the people haven’t changed. It’s only natural.

“Here are my certificate of passing and ID.”

“Yes, Mr. Park Sang-shik. Confirmed. Please wear your name tag and go to the office building you see over there for your final interview.”

“Me too… Here…”

“Mr. Ji Seung-woo. Confirmed. Please wear your name tag and go to the office building you see over there for your final interview.”

The female staff member at the temporary desk next to the main gate checked their IDs and repeated the same instructions like a guide robot.

Wearing the given name tag around their neck was the only security measure.

There wasn’t even a barricade, and they were asked to walk at least 200 meters from the main gate to the office building.

Seeing the shabbiness of Daehan Semiconductor with their own eyes again, it’s almost laughable. At that time, employees probably didn’t even have the concept of information security.

The size of the semiconductor factory, the shape of the pipelines, and the location of the warehouses all become crucial information. It’s not like I have anything to do with it, though.

People dressed in white shirts and black suits flocked in. Exactly 3,300 of them. In a normal year, only 10% or 300 people would fail the final interview, and the remaining 3,000 would become new employees.

Honestly, if a graduate from K University has made it to the final interview, they should pass easily as long as they don’t curse in front of the interviewer.

Of course, that’s what should happen in a normal year, and 1998 is obviously not normal. They’ll have a ridiculous experience.

There’s no need to rush to the office building.

The applicants who arrived at the auditorium would be confused and not know what to do, and the Daehan Semiconductor staff who prepared the interviews would be just as bewildered.

The person I need to take care of is Seungwoo.

“Seungwoo, wait.”

“Huh? Why? We have to go. We have to line up according to the numbers on our name tags.”

I ignored Seungwoo’s words and found a corner to sit. To properly button up the first button, a firm resolution was needed first.

“It’s not important to go. What’s important is not to leave the auditorium no matter what happens.”

“What are you talking about? I won’t do that. What happens if an interviewee leaves the interview room?”

“Ha ha, that’s exactly the mindset. You absolutely have to join Daehan Semiconductor’s planning department, right?”

“Right!”

“Then promise me! No matter what the interviewer says, ask them to send you to the planning department. If they do, you’ll work your hardest.”

I raised my pinky and thumb. It meant making a promise with the pinky and stamping it with the thumb.

It’s an incredibly childish act, but for us who have been friends since childhood, there’s no more solid agreement than this.

“…Why are you talking like that?”

“I heard something from my seniors, that’s why. It’s our life on the line, so promise me. You’ll say that, promise me.”

“What are you talking about? What did your seniors say?”

“They said that due to the IMF crisis, the acceptance rate is in single digits. They’ll try all sorts of ways to fail us, so we can’t fall for it. We have to endure. If we endure, we’ll pass. We absolutely can’t fall for it!”

“Wow! Single digits!”

“Do you understand how hard we have to try? This information is a company secret, so it can’t leak. If it does, that senior might get fired too.”

“Whew!”

The thing Seungwoo was most afraid of was causing trouble to others. When he heard about a non-existent senior possibly getting fired, he immediately covered his mouth with both hands.

Anyway, what I’m saying is absolutely true. Today is a historic day when South Korean conglomerates hire non-regular employees called interns.

Out of the 3,300 people gathered here today, half will be sent home within a few hours, most of the remaining ones will voluntarily resign within a few months, and in the end, fewer than 30 will be hired as regular employees.

The 98th class of Daehan Semiconductor, who were exceptional from the start, went through various business divisions and teams, experiencing all kinds of trials and tribulations.

They were treated as unique individuals wherever they went, and with each passing year, that unique treatment turned into admiration. Around 2020, many of them were promoted to executive positions. One of those executives will be me.

No, an executive position is merely a secondary reward in my second life.

In this life, I will amass wealth like scraping it with a rake. The executive salary will be nothing compared to my other earnings, not even enough to spend on company dinners.

‘For a dirt spoon like me to become rich, I have no choice but to buy Shinwha Electronics stocks bit by bit or invest in real estate. To do that, I need a stable income.’

Even if I am a returnee, winning the lottery is a far-fetched dream. It is impossible to reproduce such extremely coincidental events. I can’t even accurately predict short-term fluctuations in stock prices.

In the end, to become rich using macroscopic future knowledge, I must first become a salaryman. Even if that salaryman is an intern with a life as fragile as a fly.

In early 1998, Daehan Semiconductor was one of the few large companies hiring new employees.

Daehan Semiconductor was under legal management, so it had no choice but to be sensitive to the government’s influence. The current recruitment is being carried out reluctantly under the pressure of the government to solve the youth unemployment piled up during the IMF era. I must not miss this opportunity.

‘Seungwoo, your family will not be ruined either. I’ll make you the richest person in Jinchon for generations to come.’

Ten years should be enough.

Daehan Semiconductor’s long legal management ends in 2011. It is acquired by SJ Group, a leading telecommunications conglomerate in South Korea. In the first year, 3 trillion won is invested, followed by 5 trillion the next year, and so on, resulting in astronomical investments that propel the company to become the world’s third-largest semiconductor company.

I don’t necessarily have to continue my career at Daehan Semiconductor. I can move to Shinwha Electronics when they hire a large number of experienced employees in three years. In 20 years, Shinwha Electronics will be the world’s top electronics company, not just in South Korea.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

“Don’t think too far ahead! Focus! Concentrate on the present!”

As my thoughts began to fly to the future, I slapped my cheek. It is impossible to predict the entire future just because I have returned.

I can only do my best, and take the time to calmly consider the consequences of my actions. After all, I know how the trends flow and where they’re headed.

“Phew! That’s common sense.”

“Hehe, I mean, let’s fight.”

“Let’s give it our all.”

“Let’s go!”

“Yeah!”

Seungwoo looked slightly tense as I slapped my own cheek. Together, we headed towards the office building.

There was no fear.